Feels Like Home
by Koikage101
Summary: My take on Piers' past involving his relationships and previous career. It has a few OC's and be warned this will have some RE6 spoilers if you haven't played AND finished Chris' campaign. Rating it M for language, some violence, and some sexual content in later chapters. JillXChris and PiersXOC. More info is on my profile.
1. Prologue

**_Hello there! It's been a while since I've done a fanfiction and I have been working on my book. This idea just popped up in my head one night when listening to Josh Groban and decided, 'why not?' This one has Piers in it and takes place during Chris' campaign but also before Piers as in the BSAA. It's my take on Piers' past as well as some of the characters relationships. There are a few pairings in this one but the main ones are JillXChris and PiersXOC. There may be others down the line but that all depends on where this story goes. I'm rating it mature for language and future violence and sexual content. This is my first fanfiction with sexual content so hopefully I get it right lol._**

_**WARNING: This story WILL HAVE SOME spoilers! So if you haven't played Chris' campaign yet, you've been warned! If you're not a fan of OC pairings then this story is not for you. **_

_**As for reviews, I'm not going to beg for them but if you want to tell me what you think and/or you see anything that needs improvement, go right ahead. However, I don't appreciate rude comments so, please, don't review unless you have something that's worth my time to read (I know it comes with the package be posting on the internet but let's all be mature for once).**_

_**Other than that, thank you for reading :) Hope you enjoy it!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Resident Evil or Jill Valentine, Piers Nivans, or Chris Redfield. They are owned by Capcom. This story is inpsired by Josh Groban's 'Feel Like Home.'**_

* * *

Prologue

Piers moved his arms out of the way so that the bartender could put the steak he ordered down in front of him. He nodded his thanks and was just about to start enjoying it when the guy next him slammed his empty glass on the bar and ordered the bartender to give him another drink. Piers watched as the young woman sighed and put down the glass she was cleaning. He went back to cutting a bite off his steak. After swallowing the bite, he nodded his approval and looked over at the man, "Hard to find a good steak around here."

The man looked at him.

"Not like back home," Piers said.

The man stared at him for a bit and then looked back at his empty glass.

Piers had traveled to Eastern Europe on a mission to find one man. That man was sitting about two feet away from him. His name was Chris Redfield and he was Piers' captain on the BSAA Alpha team in the North American branch.

_Probably thinks I'm weird. After all, it's usually the drunk person that starts talking to random strangers,_ Piers thought to himself.

The bartender came back with a bottle of what Chris was drinking and poured him half a glass. Piers continued eating his steak as Chris looked at the half empty glass and said, "Fill her up."

"You've had enough," the bartender said.

Piers watched carefully as Chris shook his head, "Listen, sweetheart," Chris said, grabbing the bottle, "You're here to pour drinks and look pretty," Chris started pouring himself more of the alcoholic drink, "So, how about you shut your mouth?"

Just then the bartender grabbed his now full glass and splashed his face, "How about you get the hell out of my bar?"

The bar fell silent for a bit before going back to what they were doing. At that point, Piers was looking straight at Chris, who got up and said, "Nowhere to go."

His steak forgotten and most likely getting cold, Piers sat with his hands level to his face and watched casually as Chris walked behind him.

Another man got up from his seat and reminded him in his native language that the lady asked him to leave. Piers was guessing that Chris had no idea what the man was saying and that was why he walked past him, their shoulders colliding. Piers had a feeling this was going to get ugly, so he prepared himself to intervene if necessary.

"I said she asked you to leave," the man said now in English.

The man grabbed Chris' shoulder. Chris turned around-drinking what was left in the bottle at the same time-and slammed the guy into the table next to them. Piers jumped out of his chair as Chris flipped the bottle upside down and was about to hit the guy on the head. Pier grabbed his arm just in time, making Chris look over at who was interferring.

Piers shook his head in disgust, "Never thought I'd find Chris Redfield wasting away in a shithole like this."

Chris looked at Piers in confusion and then yanked his arm out of his grip and started sitting down, "Who the hell are you?"

_My god, he's more wasted than I thought he would be, _Piers thought.

Piers pulled up a chair and sat down, "Piers… Piers Nivans."

Chris sighed and waved his hand at him in dismissal, "Never heard of you."

Piers' heart dropped, _Oh no. Angie, what do I do?_

Collecting himself a little bit, he pulled his phone out of his back pocket and pulled up a picture of a burning city, showing it to Chris, "You heard of this?"

Chris narrowed his eyes, "What is that?"

Piers felt a lump form in his throat, "You really don't remember anything, do you? Bioterrorism."

As soon as Piers said that, Chris moved his head to the side, "Bio…"

Next thing he knew, Chris grabbed the back of his head and winced in pain.

_Am I getting through to him now? _Piers thought, "You can't hide from your past, Chris, no matter where you go or what you do."

Chris' eyes started showing a hint of fear towards Piers, "Who are you? What is this?"

Piers went from feeling dread to anger. He couldn't believe that his captain put himself in this situation, "Okay," Piers started going through the files on his phone, "You don't remember me? Well how about them?"

Piers showed Chris pictures of four people in list form. The look on Chris' face showed that he thought they looked familiar but he looked away, sadness in his eyes.

"Look," Piers said in a low voice.

When Chris didn't look back at the phone, Piers' anger boiled in his veins and slapped the table as he shot up from his chair, "I said look!"

Startled, Chris looked at Piers' phone. This time, the pictures were flicking through the same four people with the word 'DECEASED' in red letters across them, "Those were your men! Men who died under your command! You owe it to them to remember, Chris! If you walk away now then this was all for nothing!"

Chris slapped Piers' phone away from his face, "Enough!" He rubbed his forehead and grunted in pain.

Piers put his phone away and flopped down in his chair in defeat, "Damn it! Six month of searching for you…" Piers flicked a beer bottle off the table, "…and this is what I find!"

Piers shook his head, _Oh, god, Angie. He's gone. What am I going to do?_

"BSAA…"

Piers looked over at Chris, who was staring at the patch on his shirt. All at once, Piers' heart started beating faster with hope. He leaned in a little bit and said, "Yeah, it's where you belong. Everyone's waiting."

Chris' eyes widened, "Everyone?"

Piers looked behind him and nodded. Suddenly, majority of the men in the bar stood up and walked to stand behind him. Chris looked at the men in awe as Piers said, "We're taking you back, Captain. One way or another."

Chris' face went from confusion to determination and nodded. He stood up with a straight face and stared at them as if in a far off place. Suddenly Chris keeled out and started vomiting. Piers stared at his captain as the men behind him tried not to join in with Chris. Then, he stood up and faced the group as Chris continued emptying his stomach contents on the bar floor, "Alright, guys, mission accomplished. You can all go report in, I'll take the captain home."

Before Piers even finished his sentence, his team was already out the door. Piers sighed and put a hand on his head, "What am I going to do with them, Angie?"

He turned around and found Chris now sitting in the seat he was in before, holding his head. Piers stepped around the vomit as Chris continued groaning. He went back to the bar and paid his and Chris' tab while apologizing for Chris' behavior.

"Hey!" Chris shouted, Piers helping him out the door, "Don't you have a motorcycle?"

"Yeah, I do. Good thing I drove my truck," Piers said to himself.

"That would've been interesting," Chris said with a drunken smile.

Piers looked at his captain and rolled his eyes before helping him into the passenger seat. He walked around to the driver seat as Chris slumped forward a bit. He turned the engine on and drove away from the bar. Piers wondered how Chris' new wife, Jill, would react. Probably wouldn't be the first time, either. They were about halfway to Chris' place when Chris started dry heaving.

"Oh no, not in my truck! No!" Piers yelled in panic, "Captain!"

Chris covered his mouth, "Pull over."

"We are almost there," Piers said, starting to speed up.

"Either you pull over or it's going on the floor," Chris said, looking sick to his stomach.

Piers shook his head and pulled over, "Shit. Jill is going to be pissed when she sees you like this."

"Oh, God, don't take me there. If you value my life, please, don't take me there. I don't know what's going to happen if I show my face there," Chris slurred his words.

Piers looked at him confused, "It's your home, though."

"Yeah!" Chris shouted, "My home! With my wife there, who I haven't seen or talked to in five months!"

"You didn't tell her where you were going?" Piers asked.

Chris opened the door and leaned over. After about a minute or so, Chris began to vomit again just outside his truck. Piers looked the other way and put a hand over his face, "You better not be getting any of that in my truck."

"Ah, shut the hell up, I'll get it cleaned for you, okay?" Chris said after a pause.

"You better," Piers muttered, "You know how hard it was to find a black Ford F-150 that wasn't all damaged?"

Chris sat straight in the seat and closed the door, "The more you talk about your truck the more I want to puke in it. Oh shit, I'm never going to drink again."

Piers sighed, "Angie, help me not knock this guy out."

"Hey, you're referring to your captain, Lieutenant!" Chris stumbled over his words, "And who is this Angie you keep referring to?" Chris asked.

Piers fell silent and looked around to make sure he could pull away from the curb and continued on their way to Chris' place, "No one you need to be concerned about."

"Whenever we're in a bad situation it's 'Angie, Angie, Angie,'" Chris said.

"Captain, please, I don't want to talk about it," Piers pleaded.

"Well, I do," Chris said.

"Well, you're drunk so even if told you about it, you wouldn't remember," Piers said, trying not to shout.

"So what," Chris said, "I mean, you get snappy when someone asks about her and say her name as if she were some sort of goddess you made up."

Without warning, Piers slammed his hand on the arm rest and snapped, "Well, maybe she is a goddess!"

"See what I mean? See why I'm concerned?" Chris asked, quietly.

"What you going to pull rank on me?" Piers said, _Why the hell am I acting like this? He's my captain!_

"I will if I have to," Chris said, looking at him. After a short pause Chris leaned in a bit to Piers and continued his sentence, the smell of alcohol and cigarettes on his breath, "But I'm asking you as a friend."

"Moments ago, you wouldn't have remembered that, either," Piers said trying to make his words sound like poison.

Chris shrugged, "I remember now, right?"

Piers glanced over at Chris, trying not to show the tears forming in his eyes, "I can't."

"Yes, you can," Chris said, as they pulled up to his place.

Piers put his truck in park and stared at his steering wheel.

"Come on," Chris said putting a hand on Piers' shoulder as he let out a sob, "No one will know except you, me, and your truck."

"You're so drunk, you're even trying to comfort me," Piers said as he looked at his captain, "Don't make me do this. Even talking about it hurts too much."

"You got to tell someone the whole thing sometime," Chris said, "I promise I won't tell a soul, not even my wife."

Piers covered his face with his hand. After a little bit, Piers nodded his head, "Okay, I'll tell you."

"Good. Now, how long is this going to take? Do we need to sit in couches?" Chris asked, "Because I need a bathroom and I think we'll be safe for now. I don't see Jill's car."

Piers nodded and turned off his engine. "It's a long story. Might as well get comfy."


	2. Chapter 1

_**And I'm back with another chapter. Sorry for the delay. A lot of video games are coming out lately and I've been playing those for a bit plus jobs but anyway. This chapter only has a little bit of language and doesn't contain any spoilers.**_

_**Again for reviews, I'm not going to beg for them but if you want to tell me what you think and/or you see anything that needs improvement, tell me nicely, I don't appreciate rude comments (they're not worth my time to read).**_

_**Hope you guys enjoy this chapter :)**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Resident Evil or Jill Valentine, Piers Nivans, or Chris Redfield. They are owned by Capcom. This story is inpsired by Josh Groban's 'Feel Like Home.'**_

* * *

Chapter 1

"Why do these stairs feel like they have a funhouse effect to them," Chris complained.

"You're drunk, Captain, that's why," Piers said as he helped Chris make it to the top without falling over the side of the railing.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Chris muttered.

They got to the top of the stairs and Chris put both hands and stood in a victory stance, "I made it! I'm shitfaced and I made it up the stairs."

Piers rolled his eyes, "Keep it down, you'll wake the neighbors."

Chris looked at Piers, "I'm only announcing that I'm back. Then again I'm sure they're all dead because of all the BOW's out there. Plus this place is only temporary. At least that's what the BSAA says."

Piers put his hand to his face and shook his head as Chris began walking to his apartment door. Piers watched as Chris had difficulty taking out his keys. Once he succeeded, he stared at them for a bit. After a long while, he muttered, "Oh yeah, the key." He started fumbling through all his keys over and over again.

"Um, sir," Piers spoke up, "Do you need help?"

Chris just groans and waved at him to get him to be quiet. As soon as he did that he found the key and started trying to fit it into the lock when he dropped them. Piers sighed and picked them up, pushing Chris aside to open his door for him. After Chris shouted 'Eureka' he fast walked inside and disappeared around the first corner. Pier was about to ask where he went when he heard Chris vomiting in a toilet.

Piers looked to his right and found the light switch. He flipped the lights on and put Chris' keys on the little table next to the door. To his left was the living room with a brown leather couch and a big screen TV. The coffee table looked like it had wrappers of candy on it, probably from Jill having nights of missing Chris so much. He stepped down from the tile area of the front door to look at the picture on the little entertainment center just below the TV.

He looked from left to right at all the pictures he had of what he guessed were former S.T.A.R.S. members goofing around. He kind of chuckled as he got to the picture of the whole group with a big black 'x' over what looked like Wesker's face. Then the pictures went to ones with only Chris and Jill. Old ones and new ones all showed smiling, happy faces.

_Reminds me of you a little bit, Angie, _Piers thought.

And in the center of it all was the picture of both of them on their wedding day. Piers picked it up and looked closely at it. Chris and Jill were looking at each other with big smiles on their faces. Her hair was wavy and back to the natural brown she had before she was under the control of Wesker. Her dress was sleeveless and her veil started from the top of her head and flowed over her shoulders. Chris was in a tuxedo and clean shaven. His hair was in the style it always was since it was too short to do anything special with it.

Piers smiled back at the picture even though his eyes threatened to start tearing up. He felt he had shed enough tears tonight so he rubbed his eyes and realized that Chris' vomiting had stopped.

"Beautiful, isn't she?"

Piers turned around and found Chris standing a few feet away from him with two glasses of water and his jacket off. Piers smiled and nodded a bit before setting the picture back where it was and heading towards the couch.

They both sat down and Chris handed him one of the glasses, "I got to get this alcohol out of my system before Jill comes back."

"Good idea," Piers said after taking a small sip.

Chris leaned back onto the couch and looked at the picture Piers was looking at before, "So, how about that story?"

Piers cleared his throat, "Yeah, well, I still don't think it's a good idea."

Chris shot him a mean look. Piers put his hands up in surrender and sighed.

"Alright," Piers began, "If I'm going to tell you this story I'm going to have to start from the beginning."

"Fine by me," Chris said, getting comfortable.

* * *

"Hey, Percy."

Piers looked up from his half-finished sand castle at the group of boys that were walking his way. There were at least four boys all together, all wearing the same look of mischief on their faces. The one you would call the leader of the group was the most scary and dangerous one. Even the teachers were afraid of him. His name was Michael.

"Meet us at the playground after school," Michael demanded.

* * *

"Wait, wait! Hold on!" Chris interrupted Piers story, "Just how far do you have to go? And Percy?"

Piers looked at him and said, "Fifth grade. And it was a nickname the bullies gave me because I looked like a pretty boy."

"Like you don't right now?" Chris muttered.

"What was that, Captain?" Piers asked.

"Nothing," Chris covered his face, "This is going to take forever. Alright, continue."

Piers cleared his throat.

* * *

"Meet us at the playground after school," Michael demanded, "Or else you'll be in big trouble."

Piers rolled his eyes as they walked away and continued building his sand castle.

A little girl walked up and sat next to him. For a while, she didn't say anything, just sat there drawing in the sand. Curious as to whom it was, Piers looked at her.

This girl was dressed in a black T-shirt with a cartoon lioness on it. She wore dark blue jeans and a pair of skateboarding shoes. Her brown hair was in pigtails, draping over her shoulders and down to her elbows. She had a sweat band on her left wrist with the head of a lion stitched into it.

"You're not like the other girls," Piers said without thinking.

The girl looked at him puzzled.

Piers started stuttering a bit to try and explain what he meant when she laughed.

"If you mean by not dressing in dresses all the time and cute little church shoes then, yes, I'm not like the other girls," she said, "Unlike them, I like dressing how I want because it's who I am."

Piers didn't know why but his mind was blown away by her words, "Wow! You sound pretty grown up to be in fifth grade."

"Is that a problem?" the girl asked.

"No," Piers said, turning his whole body to face her, "In fact, I think it's pretty amazing. I've never met a girl like you. And I think you look pretty."

The girl looked away as her cheeks became red, "Thank you. I've never heard a boy say that to me."

Piers smiled, "Well, now you did."

After a pause between them, she looked at him again and asked, "Hey, do you have any friends?"

"Just one," Piers said, continuing his castle, "He's not here today but his name is Roger."

"I think I know him. I think he's in my class," she said.

"Really? I'm sorry to hear that," Piers said.

They both laughed.

"Yeah, he can be somewhat of a pain," Piers said, "So do you have any friends?"

The girl shook her head, "None at all. Not even back in my hometown of California."

* * *

"So, wait, what state are you in?" Chris interrupted again.

Fighting back the urge to give him a nasty look, Piers sighed, "Washington. Moving on."

* * *

"You lived in California? I'm sure it was sunnier there," Piers said.

The girl nodded. "But I like this weather better. I get sunburnt too easily."

They looked at each other for a little bit before Piers introduced himself. The girl said, "I'm Angela, but you can call me Angie."

* * *

"Angie? The Angie?" Chris asked.

This time Piers couldn't fight back the angry look he shot at his captain.

Chris cleared his throat and motioned for him to continue.

* * *

"Angie," Piers repeated, "That's a pretty name."

Angie giggled, "Are you always like this to every girl you meet?"

Piers shook his head, "Girls don't really like me. They say I'm scary."

Just then, Angie burst out into laughter, "You're not scary at all. Well, I can be your first friend that's a girl if you want."

Piers' eyes lit up, "Sure. I could always use friends."

"Great!" Angie said as she moved a little bit closer to Piers, "Can I help build your castle?"

Piers smiled, "Sure!"

Piers moved over a bit so Angie could reach.

* * *

"The rest of recess was spent on that sand castle," Piers said, "That sand castle was the best one I've ever built with the help of someone else. She was an artist. Now, since it's pretty much set in stone that we're best friends at this point, I'll be jumping the story to high school."

"Hold on!" Chris shouted, "What happened with the bully Michelle?"

"Michael?" Piers said, "Well, I did what he said only with Angie hiding and taping the whole thing. I got beaten up pretty badly but his parents finally believed that their precious son was beating up kids."

Chris' eyebrows went up as he heard this, "So, he was one of those kids, huh? Well, tell me more about this Angie."

The sounds of keys at the front door made them both freeze in their place. The door was unlocked but no one came in for a while. Piers gave Chris a confused look when they heard muttering and sobs coming from the other side. Then they both looked at the door as it opened and revealed Jill in what looked like Chris' shirt and a pair of jeans with her hair pulled back. She must've been to the store to get supplies since she had a bag full over food in her left arm.

She closed the door and stopped when she saw Chris' keys on the small table. Then she slowly turned around and found both Piers and Chris peering over the back of the couch at her. After what felt like an eternity, they stared at each other, not knowing what to say.

"Oh shit," Chris muttered, only Piers being able to hear him.

Jill continued standing there as she sighed, causing her eyes to water up.

"This is what five month of disappearing will feel like," Piers whispered to Chris before getting up, "Hi, Jill. Um…I found Chris for you…"

She was staring at Chris the whole time and Chris at her. Piers coughed a little bit before looking surprised at his naked wrist.

"Well, would you look at the time? It's way passed my bedtime. Got a big day tomorrow," Piers said as he heard Chris start to say something. Piers walked up to Jill and put a hand on her shoulder. As he did, she looked at the floor and listened to what Piers had to say, "Hey, I know it was six months ago but losing a platoon in a horrible way like he did can do a lot of damage. It'll be hard but go a little easy on him."

Jill nodded as Piers walked to the door. He turned around and waved to Chris before he left, "I'll see you tomorrow, Captain."

"Maybe not," Chris said, "She might feed me to the BOW's."

"With all due respect, sir," Piers said, "You did get yourself into this."

And with that Piers closed the door and ran like hell to his car so he wouldn't hear what was going on or be dragged back into the apartment. Once Piers got into his truck, he sighed and started the car. Piers sat there a bit and then pulled out his cell phone from his back pocket. He looked the picture of a smiling woman he had on the home screen and stared at it. She was in a wedding dress holding a bouquet of purple flowers, sitting on a small brick wall all alone.

"I'll try and visit you some day," Piers said, "Hopefully there aren't going to be any interruptions when I do, if you know what I mean. That bastard..."

After a few moments he put his cell phone back and pulled out of the parking lot, heading to BSAA headquarters to report about Chris.


	3. Chapter 2

_**Yay! Chapter 2! Now that Thanksgiving is over I was able to write again. It's a bit shorter than the chapter only has a little bit of language and doesn't contain any spoilers.**_

_**Again for reviews, I'm not going to beg for them but if you want to tell me what you think and/or you see anything that needs improvement, tell me nicely, I don't appreciate rude comments (they're not worth my time to read).**_

_**Enjoy :)**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Resident Evil or Jill Valentine, Piers Nivans, or Chris Redfield. They are owned by Capcom. This story is inpsired by Josh Groban's 'Feel Like Home.' I also don't own the lyrics in this chapter. 'Already Over' by Red and 'Safety Dance' by Men Without Hats.**_

* * *

Chapter 2

Piers walked out of the BSAA headquarters as he began to yawn. Then he stretched his arms to the sky, a cracking sound going all the way down his arms, and stopped at his truck. He looked at his phone to see what time it was but it only brought sadness when he say the picture of Angie. He quickly read the time as 1:34am and got in the truck. He turned the ignition and his music from his iPod that was plugged in immediately started up. As he drove out of the parking lot, he debated whether to call Chris and see if everything was okay or if he should just let them sort things out a little longer.

"I hope he's not saying anything stupid," Piers said to himself, "And hopefully Jill isn't beating the shit out of him either."

He stopped at a red light as his iPod changed songs. The song that came up next was one that made Piers look at his stereo with narrowed eyes, "Seriously? Already Over Pt. 2 by Red? Too slow."

But it wasn't that it was too slow, the song reminded him of Angie too much. So he changed it. The next song made his eyes roll and growl, "Come on! It's the same song just more of a rock theme!"

Just as he was about to turn his stereo off completely, he found that his hand froze at the off button. He started becoming angry as he tried so hard to turn it off. He gave up as the music started to pick up a little. He leaned his head on the window, trying not to listen to the words.

**You never go, **

**You're always here**

"Suffocating me," Piers said along with the song.

**Under my skin, I cannot run away. **

**Fading slowly.**

_"Why does this song come up every time I'm in the car?"_

Piers shrugged, "I don't know. It is kind of weird."

_"I mean, even the slow version comes up every time."_

"Maybe it's a sign," Piers said.

_"A sign of what?"_

"I don't know. Maybe it's a sign of love."

At that, Piers became aware of what was happening and his eyes became wide. He whipped his head around to look at the passenger seat. It was empty. He stopped breathing.

_"A sign of love?"_

Piers watched in shock as Angie suddenly appeared in the seat. She looked to be about the age of a high school student.

_"What are you talking about, Nivans?"_

Piers looked around him and found that the night had turned into day and he wasn't in his truck anymore but the truck he bought while in the military academy. He looked down at himself and saw that he was in uniform.

_"Nothing," He heard his own voice say, "Just being funny."_

_Angie gave him that look she always gave him when she knew he was lying. _

"Why didn't I say it?" Piers said, "Why didn't I just fucking tell her? I had the opportunity. Maybe if I told her sooner this wouldn't have happened. Things would be so much better."

_"Don't beat yourself up."_

He looked at the passenger seat and everything went back to normal. He was back in his truck all alone and it was night again.

**My best defense, running from you**

**I can't resist, take all you want from me**

**Breaking slowly**

_"It's not your fault. It's not like you could've stopped it."_

The light turned green and he started to go. Each time he heard Angie's voice saying something, he would put the accelerator pedal down a little further. With each time she said his name, he slipped out of reality and saw himself in the corner of his mind, curled up in a fetal position, yelling and screaming. Louder and faster. Louder and faster. The voice didn't stop. His mental screaming didn't stop. All he wanted to do was disappear forever so the pain would never come back. But he knew that no matter how hard he tried, she would never be with him. She would never be by his side. She was somewhere else with someone else.

"It's too late," he said.

_"It's not your fault."_

"Yes, it is!"

_ "Piers! Watch out!"_

He came back into reality as he heard her say that and saw the car just in time to go back into his lane without being hit. He only realized that the car was actually an 18 wheeler with the horn blaring at him when it zoomed by. Breathing heavily, he decided to pull over as the tears forming in his eyes began to distort his vision. He put his truck into park, turned it off, and sat there, staring at the steering wheel.

_"Oh my god, that was close."_

Piers failed to stop the tears from falling, so he focused more on holding back the sobs.

_"One more minute and we would be dead. But we're not, so let's laugh about it."_

Piers leaned his forehead against the wheel and remembered what he said when a drunk driver swerved into his lane while he was visiting from the academy, _"You love to laugh in the face of danger, huh?"_

_"Of course! Ha ha ha ha!"_

_"Okay, Simba," Piers had called her that day._

Back in reality, Piers gripped his head and, in an effort to not sob, he started yelling at the top of his lungs, "Why are you torturing me?"

Only silence answered him, making him grow angry, "Angie, why are you doing this to me?"

"Piers?"

"Stop it!" Piers yelled, "Just fucking stop it!"

"Well, you seem a bit troubled so I'm not going anywhere until you're okay."

Piers stopped his yelling and listened closely.

"Did you ass dial me?"

Piers immediately went for his back pocket where his phone was. He tried to calm himself as soon as he saw his captain's name on it. Wiping his eyes and answered the phone properly, "Captain?"

"Piers, there you are," Chris said, "God, that's hilarious. He fucking ass dialed me."

"Yeah, you're still drunk. You aren't normally easily entertained," Piers heard Jill say.

"Why are you calling me?" Piers asked, "Not to sound rude but I thought you were straightening things out with Jill."

"That's what I was calling you for. I was going to tell you that it's all fine. She's still pissed about me leaving like I did," Chris said.

"Not pissed, really pissed," Jill yelled from the background.

"Really pissed, sorry," Chris sighed, "But she knows she can never stay mad at me because of my good looks. Ouch! That hurt!"

"You okay?" Piers asked.

"Jill has got a wicked punch. But more importantly are you okay? When your butt called me I heard you talking to someone and then you started screaming." Chris asked.

Piers just wanted to hang up or change the subject but this was his captain. He couldn't lie to him. He would find out eventually anyway.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Piers said, "I'm not the biggest fan of remembering the past. I tend to not take it so well when I start remembering things."

Chris was silent for a little bit before he said, "I heard you yell out for Angie. Did I bring something up that shouldn't have been?"

Piers looked at the empty seat beside him, half hoping that Angie would appear, "No, it's okay. I'm one of those people that have to face their demons sometime. Plus I haven't told anyone about this and I really think it would be good to get it off my chest. Since I've already started telling you, I might as well finish the story."

"Okay, buddy," Chris said, "Take your time, though. I don't want you breaking down in the middle of the field because of this."

"I understand, sir," Piers said.

"Well, I'm going to head off to bed. Hopefully I get some sleep because I've been drinking water since you left and peed about ten times already."

Piers shook his head and smirked.

"Do me a favor and pray to whatever jackass God there is left that I don't get a really bad hangover," Chris said.

Piers chuckled, "I will, sir."

"And Piers," Chris paused as if about to say something he might regret, then sighed, "Drive safely. I don't need a good soldier like you dying from a simple car accident."

"I will, sir, thank you," Piers said.

"Good night," Chris said before he hung up.

Piers pulled the phone from his ear and stared at the call ended screen, "Night, Captain."

Then he put his phone in his back pocket. Sighing, he started up his truck again.

**I'd give it all to you**

**I offer up my soul**

Piers immediately changed the song to something else, "That's enough of that."

He put his truck into drive and started heading home. He began laughing as soon as he realized what song was playing.

**We can dance if we want to**

**We can leave your friends behind**

**Cuz your friends don't dance**

**And if they don't dance**

**Well, they're no friends of mine**

"My iPod must miss you, too, Angie," Piers said.


	4. Chapter 3

_**Yay! Finally Chapter 3 is up! And the holidays are over! I tried to make it a longer chapter than last time and doesn't have a lot of language (more like none) and doesn't contain any spoilers.**_

_**You should know by now about how I feel about reviews. I don't appreciate rude comments.**_

_**Enjoy :)**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Resident Evil or Piers Nivans or Chris Redfield. They are owned by Capcom. This story is inpsired by Josh Groban's 'Feel Like Home.'**_

Chapter 3

The morning sun peeked through the curtains and onto Piers' face. He took a deep breath as he repositioned a little on his side. A smile crept over his face as he expected Angie to block the sun with her hands on her hips like she almost always did.

"You got to get up," she would say, "The day is wasting away."

Instead, his alarm went off, yelling at him to get up in the most annoying screech anyone as ever heard. Even the infected didn't match up to something like this. He groaned out loud and grabbed his phone to turn it off. He checked the time, even though he knew what time it was. But there was one time when he woke up to his alarm, which had been going off for a while and he didn't hear it until about 30 minutes after what it was originally set to. It was 6:00am.

He sighed and rolled over, "Time to get up."

As his arm fell to the other side of the bed, he shot up and stared at where his arm had fallen. Then calmed down and realized that it was a normal thing. That it would stay normal for the rest of his life because no matter what he did, he can never get her back. Only in a perfect world would that be able to happen.

Slowly, he made his way from his bedroom, down the mini hallway, and into the kitchen to make some tea. He put the water in the kettle and on the stove and turned towards the window to the sound of a distant explosion.

"Sounds like they're done resting," Piers said, referring to the explosion being the first war related sound of the morning.

He went back to his bedroom to get dressed. Apparently he was so tired that he fell asleep in this shirt and pants from finding Chris. As he walked to his dresser, he pulled off his shirt and threw it off to the side, missing the completely full laundry hamper. He opened his shirt drawer and looked at all the wonderful white shirts to choose from. He picked a shirt out and froze. Not because of the gunfire he could hear, but from the cold arms he felt wrap around his waist. He turned around with his elbow ready to hit someone's face when he realized, he was all alone. He towards the ceiling and closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

_She's not here, _he thought to himself, _Give it up._

He put on his shirt and a clean pair of pants and headed to the kitchen as he heard the kettle start to boil. He turned off the stove and put the water into a mug that he gave to Angie. It used to be her favorite mug until things went wrong. However, he didn't see that bad memories behind it, he only saw Angie. He always joked with himself about how obsessive of her he sounded because of how simple it was.

He leaned against the counter and sipped his tea. Immediately he felt himself getting warmer as the hot liquid traveled down to his stomach. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the peaceful silence of his apartment he was staying at. It was only when the gunfire started up again that his eyes snapped open at the sight of Angie yelling his name from what looked like the corner of a warehouse. He turned around and leaned his head on the counter and tried to forget the image.

"Of all the memories I have of you, that one had to come up," he whispered, trying to hold back the tears.

His phone rang with a distinctive ringtone known as the 'Gieco boss ringtone.' He only knew it to be Chris because of how his squad would joke around about how he was a tough guy on the outside so that should make him a cool guy on the inside.

"Nivans," Piers answered the phone.

"Piers," Chris' voice came from the other side, "I'm in a bit of a dilemma."

"Everything alright?" Piers asked.

"Well, Jill left me a note saying she would be back shortly and took her car. And since my car is MIA at the moment, I have no one to drive me to HQ," Chris said.

Piers' mouthed formed a smiled that went to the side, "Well, Captain, sounds like you're in trouble. I'll come and pick you up when I'm done here."

"Thanks, Piers, I really do owe you one," Chris said, "I'll see you in a bit."

Piers heard Chris hang up the phone. He finished up his tea as he continued getting ready and then headed to Chris' place. When he got there, Chris was ready to go.

"Hey, I'm sorry about last night," Chris said, when they got in Piers' truck, "And I'm sorry for the last six month. I was acting childish and a coward."

"It's okay, Captain. We know you're safe and that's all that matters," Piers said.

Piers could feel Chris' worry about what happened to him last night when he called but didn't want to bring it up, "So, now that you've told me a little bit about Angie, I'm a little curious as to what the rest of it is."

Piers smiled, "Alright I'll tell you, but no interrupting this time, sir."

"I'll try not to," Chris said.

"Alright so, where was I?" Piers asked.

"You talked about how you met each other in elementary school and said you would skip middle school since it was obvious that you two became good friends."

Piers nodded, "I remember. Yea, there was nothing big that happened in middle school. A lot more happened during and after high school," Piers was quiet as he thought of the first big thing that happened, "Alright, so when it was time for high school, I wanted to enroll into a military school since my dad's side of the family has been in the military for generations. Angie continued on in a regular high school. She was sad to see me go but I was able to visit a lot since my grades and behavior were so good. I'll start at my freshman year and my first visit back home."

* * *

_Piers stepped out of the terminal he had landed in and looked around. Man, had he missed home. The last time he was in this airport, he was being flown to the military academy that he now goes to. _

_She would be waiting for him near the luggage pick up area. He was excited but in the back of his mind, he wasn't. He hadn't seen her in months and he had a feeling of dread? What was wrong with him? He tried to shake the feeling from his mind and found himself already at the escalators to bring him to his luggage. _

_"Yo, Nivans!"_

_Piers turned to his right and saw a very familiar face. A smile instantly flew across his face and, before he knew it, ran to her, dropped his bag and scooped her up in a hug. _

_"I'm so glad to see you, Angie," he said, barely able to contain his excitement._

_"I'm glad to see you, too, but people are staring," Angie said._

_Angie was never a fan of being the center of attention, even when she should be. The only attention she didn't mind was being on stage._

_Piers put her down and began walking with her, "So, did I miss any of your dance concerts?"_

_"Nope, you're just in time for the last one. They're all different but I have to say I like this next one better," Angie said._

_"Great! I'll be there!" Piers said as they reached the luggage area._

_"Piersyyyyyy!"_

_"Oh, yeah, the bitch is here," Angie said, the feeling of dread came back to his mind but he shook it away again when he saw a pink streak coming towards him._

_"Pam!" he yelled and waited for her to tackle him. _

_She jumped on him, expecting him to pick her up and spin in a circle. Piers just stepped back a bit from the force and didn't even pick her up._

_"Oh, Piersy! I missed you so much," Pam said, looking as if she wanted to have sex right there in the airport._

_"I missed you, too," Piers said in between Pam's sloppy kisses._

_He looked at Angie as if asking for help and all she did was mouth the words, Nice girlfriend. Piers gave puppy eyes and Angie held up her hands and turned around._

_"So, how'd you get past the security, Angela?" Pam asked, obviously trying to stab her with her words._

_Angie turned back around with a twitch in her eye, "What security, Pamela? There is no security through the exits."_

_Piers looked at Angie with confusion._

_Angie began to explain, "The reason way I was the only one that met you up further was because Pamela was too afraid of possible security- "_

_"Actually!" Pam interrupted, "I wanted to stay here because it was the original plan and I didn't want the possibility of missing you up there and you coming down here and thinking I wasn't here."_

_"Yes, yes, because he would be soooo devastated if you weren't here to meet up with him," Angie said, folding her arm in front of her._

_"Of course he would," Pam snapped, tightening her arms around Piers' neck._

_Piers interrupted the possible cat fight and said while trying to breathe, "Um, girls, can we get out of the airport, please? I'd like to actually do something before I have to go back."_

_Angie looked at Piers, "Well, this month is declared your month. What do you want to do?" _

_"What time is it?" Piers asked._

_Angie looked at her smartphone, "It's 5: 34."_

_Piers tried to peel Pam off of him in a delicate way, but she wouldn't budge. So, he shrugged and put his hands on his hips and said, "Well, is anyone hungry?"_

_"I am! I am!" Pam yelled and Piers made a face that made it seem like he was going deaf in one eye._

_"Are you Angie?"_

_And as if on que, Angie's stomach growled as loud as it could, as if screaming at her to feed it._

_"Angie, when's the last time you ate?" Piers asked._

_Angie scratched her head, "Um, last night."_

_Piers put his palm to his face and suggested they go eat something before Angie passed out._

* * *

Piers drove into a parking spot at HQ and put the car in park, "I'll tell you the rest when we get out."

"Sounds good," Chris said, getting out, "I'll meet you in the meeting room. I got to talk to the big cheese."

Piers sat there, and watched as Chris went through the entrance door, "The big cheese? That came out of Chris' mouth?"

He chuckled to himself before he grabbed his things and followed Chris into the building.

Three hours later, everyone came out of the meeting room, talking about how happy they were to see the captain back. Piers was the last one to come out along with Chris.

"Well, that was relatively painless," Chris said, running a hand through his hair.

"I have to agree with that. I thought for sure someone would end up- "

An explosion that rattled the building interrupted their talk and they ran outside to check it out. From what they could see, a building had been set on fire and people were running around, looking for water as the sirens began blaring from the firefighter trucks. Piers looked harder and found that it was a building that was made for the BSAA to live there. Piers froze as he looked at the figure of a girl, standing in front of the burning building at a safe distance, watching the fire burning.

"Angie," Piers whispered.

Chris grabbed Piers' arm and suggested they do what they are told and get out of here. Piers nodded and they got in his truck and drove away from the fire towards the opposite end of the base.

When they got there, they found their squad sitting on each other's cars and watching the fire. Chris pulled down Piers' tailgate and sat down.

"This might take a while," Chris said, "Might as well get comfortable. Unlike the others, we have to stay here since we have a mission in a few hours."

Piers got up on his tailgate, keeping his eyes away from the sight of the fire.

"Are you afraid of fire all of a sudden?" Chris asked, "You just froze when you saw it."

Piers shook his head, "It's not like that. It just…brought back a sour memory."

"Was it with Angie?"

Piers nodded, "It happened within my first visit back from the academy."

* * *

_"Wow, there are a lot of fire trucks out today," Pam said from the passenger side of Piers' car._

_"Yeah, and that looks like a big fire. That must be where they're going," Piers said._

_"Well, let's pick up Angela and go, we can't miss this movie," Pam said._

_Piers found his eye twitch as Angie full name being said. His light turned green and they began heading towards Angie's place. As they got closer, they realized that they were getting closer to the fire._

_"Damn, Angie seems to be close to this fire. I wonder if she was evacuated," Piers said._

_"Oh, it'll be fine," Pam said, "Just hurry up."_

_But the closer they got to Angie's place, the more worried Piers began to feel._

_"Are you okay, Piersy?" Pam asked._

_Piers didn't answer her as they got to a barricade set up at the entrance to Angie's street. He sat there for a while looking in the small crowd gathered up. Angie wasn't there. He put his car in park and ran towards the barricade. He could hear Pam calling his name but he didn't care. He had make sure of something._

_"Excuse me, Officer?" Piers went to one of the cops, "Which house is it?"_

_"I'm sorry, sir, I don't know the address," the officer said._

_"Which house is on fire?" Piers yelled at him._

_The officer looked behind him then looked back at Piers and said, "I think it's five houses down, sir."_

_Piers suddenly felt numb. The only thing he could hear was his own breathing. He put his hands on the barricade bars to hold himself up. He started feeling dizzy. His vision began to blur. He felt as if he wanted to cry. Five houses down. That was Angie's house. _

_As suddenly as the numbness and dizziness came, it went away. Next thing Piers knew, he had jumped the barricade and was running towards the flaming house as fast as he could._


	5. Chapter 4

_**Alright, so this chapter contains a little bit of language and a little bit of spoilers (more towards the end). I already have Chapter 5 in the making so it'll be posted sometime soon here.**_

_**I don't appreciate rude comments and thank you for not putting any and to the ones I have now.**_

_**Enjoy :)**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Resident Evil or Piers Nivans or Chris Redfield. They are owned by Capcom. This story is inspired by Josh Groban's 'Feel Like Home.' And a tiny bit of S.D. Perry (novels).**_

_**EDIT: So, apparently I'm getting some guests who are confused about why I put Raccoon City, Pennsylvania. Yes, I know that, according to the games, it's in the mid-west and not in the east. My reasoning wasn't very clear and I think it's because I forgot to mention S.D. Perry in the disclaimer for this chapter. However I did mention on my profile that her novels will be referenced in some way. She was the one that came up with putting Raccoon City in Pennsylvania. Plus, I thought it was a good idea to put that in this fanfiction to emphasize on how fast the virus can spread from such a long distance in a short period of time. **__****__**Hopefully that cleared some things up.**_

* * *

Chapter 4

_Piers could hear the police shouting behind him to stop running. He didn't care what they did. They could shoot him down and it still wouldn't stop him from getting to Angie and seeing if she was okay. He ran up to one of the fire trucks and started yelling for her. There was an ambulance parked behind the fire truck, the doors were open but the stretcher was gone. His heart dropped as he ran closer to it. Then he looked at the burning house. The whole house was engulfed in angry flames, fighting back at the firefighters as they tried to douse it in water. It didn't even look like a house anymore. It looked more like a giant ball of fire._

_But what Piers saw wasn't the house, it was the figure just standing there, facing the burning house. _

_"Angie?" Piers yelled._

_It took a few more times of calling her name for the figure to turn around. It slowly began to turn around. _

_"Please let that be you," Piers muttered to himself._

_The figure began to stumble as it walked towards him. Piers just froze in his place as he watched this swaying figure get closer. _

_"Zombie!" Piers heard one of the police officers yell. _

_Piers continued to watch as the figures face became clearer. It was Angie._

_Her face was streaked with tears from the black soot covering her face. Her black shirt was partially ripped off of her, exposing her white bra and part of her naked stomach. Her eyes were wide and full of terror. _

_"No, wait!" an EMT called out, "She's safe! I checked for bites, she doesn't have any! She was rescued from inside the fire."_

_Angie was about halfway to Piers when he ran the rest of the way to her. He grabbed her face in his hands and made her look at him. There was a long pause before Angie noticed who it was. And just like that, fell limp into Piers' arms, crying and sobbing loudly. Piers took her in a tight embrace and tried to calm her down. _

_"I'm right here," Piers said, trying not to choke on his own sobs, "I'm right here. You're safe now."_

_Eventually they both fell on their knees, still in each other arms. Piers slowly looked up at the burning house as the roof collapsed. Something dawned on him when he realized something. He looked around and found a fire fighter._

_"Excuse me!" Piers yelled, getting the firefighters attention, "Where are her parents?"_

_The firefighter sighed with sorrow, "I'm sorry, sir, she was the only one we found in there. And as far as I know they're not out here, either."_

_Piers couldn't catch a proper breath but still nodded his thanks. He looked at Angie, who was still sobbing in his arms and buried his face in her neck._

* * *

"Captain! Lieutenant! The fire is clear enough for us to go back into the main building!"

Chris and Piers looked over at one of their squad members.

"Thanks, Reid. Get everyone else together and pack up," Chris said.

"Yes, Captain," Reid saluted and ran to the others, "Hey, Marco, it's time to go pack up. We're going on that mission we were promised."

"Oh, fun," the one called Macro said, "This should be interesting."

A third squad member piped up, "Oh come on, it's not like it's going to be that bad. Besides, all you have to do is yell Polo if you get lost."

Marco started running after them, "Shut the fuck up, Keaton! It's not funny anymore!"

Another rolled his eyes and jogged after them.

Chris shook his head, "I'll deal with it another time. So what happened next?"

Piers and Chris got off the tailgate and into the truck.

"I rode with Angie to the hospital where they did a thorough check on her," Piers said.

* * *

_"She'll be fine," the nurse said after checking her, "She can leave today but we'd like it if she stayed a little longer so we can evaluate her, and see how she's doing mentally. _

_Piers nodded, "Thanks."_

_Angie was sitting on the bed that was covered with a paper sheet. Piers was right next to her and realized that her eyes were on the ground the whole time. She grabbed Piers' arm in both of hers and squeezed it. _

_"I'll leave you two alone," the nurse smiled._

_When the nurse left, Piers brought Angie closer to him in a hug. She had stopped sobbing but the tears were like waterfalls, endlessly running._

_After a long silent pause filled with hospital sounds and people talking, Piers asked, "Are you okay?"_

_She didn't answer him._

_"Angie?" Piers said, "You're safe now. And you know you can tell me anything. If you want I won't-"_

_"It was my dad," Angie blurted out._

_Piers looked at her in confusion, "What happened to your dad?"_

_Angie swallowed, "When I got home, he was standing over my mom with a gas can in his hand."_

_Piers' eyes widened, "What?"_

_"She was lying on the floor. She wasn't moving. Dad's neck was bleeding. He turned around and saw me. I ran to mom but he pushed me back, saying it was too late to save her," Angie took a moment to let a few sobs out as Piers comforted her, "As he was trying to push me away, Mom grabbed my shirt. When I saw those white eyes and heard those moans, I knew it wasn't her anymore. I tried to pull away. Dad helped me by grabbing me away from her. He pushed me to the opposite side and before I knew it, he had thrown a match on Mom. She stumbled around, bumping into things and causing the whole house to go up."_

_Piers sat down next to Angie, "Where's your dad?"_

_Angie sat there without saying a word for a moment and finally said, "He told me that Mom had bit him and jumped into the fire."_

_Angie lost it and Piers immediately grabbed her and hugged her tightly. He couldn't believe what he heard. How did the virus reach all the way over here? Was it destroyed in the explosion of Raccoon City, Pennsylvania?__  
_

_Piers looked out the window into the hallway and saw Pam standing there. Piers took a deep breath, Pam didn't look pleased. This was going to be a long night._

* * *

Piers drove back to where the main building was and continued a bit after getting out of the truck, "Needless to say, Pam and I got into a fight over me being 'to close' to Angie. Angie and I have been best friends since elementary. I even told her there was nothing more between us and to not get jealous. But Pam was one of those girls that just didn't listen. Nothing happened really after the fight. Pam tried to get me to have makeup sex with her as always and I refused which caused another fight."

"She sounds like a handful," Chris said, opening the entrance door for him.

Piers chuckled, "That she was. I'll continue the story after we're finished here."

Within minutes, they found themselves in separate medical rooms. Piers sat there in silence when he heard a man yelling from the room next to him. It wasn't from Chris' room but the other side of him.

"Was that," Piers began and this his eyes went wide, "Marco?"

Another yell made Piers jump.

_Oh, man, what are they doing to him? Wait, what are they doing to us?_

The door opened and a doctor came in with a nurse following behind him, rolling a tray up.

"Lieutenant Nivans?" the doctor asked, looking at his paperwork.

"Yes?" Piers said cautiously.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Robinson. It says here that you and Alpha Team will be going on a mission."

Before he could finish, Marco screamed again. The doctor rolled his eyes and tried to remain calm, "Will that one ever shut up?"

"What's happening to him?" Piers asked.

"Oh, he just afraid of a little needle," Dr. Robinson said, "We should've just shot him with a needle gun to get them all done with."

"Wait, what do you mean _all_?" Piers asked.

"Shots, Lieutenant Nivans," the doctor said, "You're giving you guy's shots to make sure you don't get infected. Since you squad member, Marco Rose, was having some…troubles with needles…"

Marco screamed again, this time trying to get the people to stop giving him the shots. Dr. Robinson took a deep breath and excused himself. Next thing Piers heard was Marco yelling, "All at once?"

A long pause later, he came back, "Okay anyway, we're giving you all the shots at once to save us all the trouble."

Before Piers can even agree to it, Dr. Robinson took the needle gun from the tray and pushed it into Piers' arm. Multiple needles pierced through his skin, making Piers' turn to yell.

After a few seconds, Piers walked out, favoring his shoulder.

"Have a safe mission!" Dr. Robinson called.

Piers rubbed his shoulder as he met up with Chris and the others, "Jesus, why so many shots?"

"They're hoping that at least one of these shots will help us from getting infected," Chris said.

"Are you not supposed to mix some of this shit together?" another Alpha Team member asked, who has been out longer than Piers.

"Are we going to die if they get mixed like this?" Keaton asked.

"Jeff, Keaton, relax," Chris said, "We'll be fine. Now go get ready."

"Yes, sir," Keaton, Jeff, and Reid said in unison, all in tired and out of tune tones.

"I'll see you on the ground, guys," Marco said, walking away while still rubbing his shoulder.

Piers looked at both his shoulders, "Man, I hate needles. And those were like what seven needles at a time?"

"Something like that," Chris said.

Piers shook his head, "The next time I get a shot, it better be a life or death situation and God help anyone or anything that makes me do it."

Chris chuckled.

Hours later of getting ready and going over the plans again, they ran to the helicopter that would take them to Waiyip, China, where they were to begin their mission.

Before the chopper began moving, Piers looked at Chris as his concern for his captain grew, "Are you sure you're up for this, Captain?"

Chris looked at Piers and nodded, "I can't keep running away. I have to face the truth, accept responsibility. It's the only way I'll ever remember. The only way I'll get my life back."

Piers couldn't help but smile at his captain's brave words, "That's the Chris Redfield I know."

Once Alpha Team was in the chopper, Chris gave the okay to go and they were off, "You know it's only because of you and the team that I'm here right now. You guys saved me."

"Aw, shit, Captain, why'd you have to go and make us blush," Reid said.

They all laughed a little and fell silent shortly afterwards. A few hours later they found themselves in Waiyip, China.

"HQ to Alpha Team," the communicated piped up, "No change in your mission. Suppress the bioterror outbreak while proceeding to point Ace of Spaces."

"Roger that. Preparing to drop on the Eight of Clubs," Chris responded, "We'll make our way to the Ace of Spades and find those U.N. workers."

Just as Piers was waiting for Chris to jump down, he looked over the city and sighed, "Please, Angie, let the captain be alright."

And then he jumped.


	6. Chapter 5

_**This chapter is a bit longer thanks to the flashback. I tried to make it shorter but I just made even longer every time I read through it. It contains a little **__**more language than the previous chapters as well as more spoilers (little ones but still).**_

_**If you see anything you think is wrong, let me know but please be mature about it. I don't appreciate rude comments as they are a waste of my time and energy I could be using towards future chapters.**_

_**Enjoy :)**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Resident Evil or Piers Nivans, Chris Redfield, Keaton, Reid, or Marco Rose. They are owned by Capcom. This story is inspired by Josh Groban's 'Feel Like Home' from his album Illuminations. **_

* * *

Chapter 5

After going down some slopes, the communicators piped up again.

"Echo to HQ. We've encountered some hostiles at Diamond Three. Moving in to engage," a little later the communicator squeaked, "HQ, copy."

"Captain! Over here!" Piers yelled as Chris ran over to where they were standing.

The double door seemed to have no sound coming from the other side but you never know. Reid and Keaton were on either side of the double door, waiting for the order, while Jeff stood off to the side. Chris and Piers went behind each of them and waited for a few seconds. Chris then taped Keaton who then shouldered one door as Reid kicked open the other.

"The BSAA has arrived on the scene. Excuse me, can I get a comment, please? Excuse me!"

Some of the worst things to encounter in the middle of a war: a reporter and his cameraman. Piers immediately put his gun down and hoped Chris would do just that. He did, but then he walked up to them both and shoved the camera out of his face.

"Is this outbreak related to the situation back in the States? Is the BSAA involved there as well?" the reporter asked.

"Don't you two have a family back at home?" Piers asked, "I would suggest you let us do our job without getting in our way and go comfort them because, trust me, they're going to need it."

And with that, the ground started shaking. Piers ran over to where Chris was and looked around.

"Look at this," Chris said, before walking forward again, "All civilians! Clear out of the way!"

_I'm so glad you're not here to see this, Angie. This place has gone to shit, _Piers thought as he took a deep breath and began walking behind the captain.

He watched as people left and right were running and hiding, screaming and shouting probably for their loved ones. Piers' vision began to blur. He grabbed his head and tried to clear his eyesight by shaking it. Closing his eyes didn't help because when he did he saw Angie again in that warehouse, screaming his name.

_Just stop, okay? _Piers thought, _I can't have this right now!_

The communicator spoke up again, this time with Chris' voice, "Come in, HQ! Route 4 is a mix of civvies and hostiles! Got anything else?"

Before HQ could answer, an explosion rattled the ground causing everyone to lose their footing a bit.

"Son of a-!"

"Alpha Team," HQ came back, "Switch course from Route 4 to Route Niner. Head to the destination through the building in the Six of Clubs."

There was another set of double doors. Again, Keaton and Reid occupied the sides. Piers got behind Keaton and Chris went to go behind Reid when he was grabbed by a man that had been in a fetal position. Reid grabbed the guy off of Chris and threw him to the side, pointing his gun at him.

"Don't you fucking dare," Reid said through his teeth as Jeff took his place.

Chris and Piers kicked one of the doors open and ran inside and up the stairs after the others.

"HQ to all teams. Alpha is en route to Ace of Spades. After they rendezvous with Delta, we will proceed with the operation as planned."

A window was shot out by stray bullets, causing everyone to get down. After an all clear, they ran to a door, which Chris opened up slowly. After looking to his left, which was a dead end, he ran to his right and found another door. They were outside again on a second floor catwalk. Piers watched as the body of a dead civilian slipped off the railing and down into the fire below. Piers shook his head and got himself to focus on the task at hand.

_Maybe I'm the one HQ should be concerned about, not the captain, _Piers thought with a little humor, _All these flashbacks I'm having is driving me nuts._

Chris opened the door, ran in and was blown to the left wall as something exploded nearby.

"Captain! Are you alright?" Piers yelled.

Chris got up, holding his forehead.

"Bravo to HQ. We're currently engaged with hostiles at the Four of Hearts. It's not looking good! Requesting immediate back-up!"

Chris and Piers continued running around the building, looking for a way out to their destination.

It all seemed familiar to Piers, running around an abandoned like building.

"No more flashbacks! Stay focused!"Piers muttered angrily to himself, putting a hand to his forehead.

"Copy that. HQ to Charlie, assist Bravo at the Four of Hearts."

There was a hole in the building where it dropped down into an alleyway. Chris jumped down as they heard gunshots. Piers looked in front of him and saw a man in a mask running away from the civilian he just shot.

"If they're killing unarmed civilians, they're going to love us," Chris said.

Piers was slightly amused and cracked a smile as he jumped down, _They sure are._

They ran down the alley after the masked man where Piers assisted Chris in kicking down the door at the end. Piers saw the masked man as he turned around and shot him in the head. The mask broke and slipped off his face as the man fell to his knees. Piers and Chris stood and watched in confusion as several tiny tentacles started building the head back together

"It's healing itself!" Chris exclaimed.

The man stood back up with a face full of white out eyes.

_No wonder he wore a mask_, Piers thought, "Piers to HQ! We've made contact with the J'avo! It's the same kind we dealt with back in Edonia!"

"Copy that," HQ said, "Proceed with extreme caution."

Piers looked over at the captain, who had shot the J'avo enough to kill it.

"Extreme caution," Piers muttered as he stared down at the J'avo, "Let's hope we get out of here alive."

_"You will. Just believe in yourself."_

Piers looked up, hearing Angie's voice. He started spinning around, searching for her, "Angie?"

"No, Keaton, sir," Keaton said from behind Piers, "Sir, are you alright?"

Piers pinched the bridge of his nose, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you…never mind," Keaton said.

Piers looked at him, "Am I what?"

Keaton hesitated a bit and straightened a bit, "Well, you seemed to be in pain back there. You got a migraine?"

He must've been talking about when Piers was trying not to have a flashback. He nodded, "Yeah, something like that. Where's Jeff?"

"Over here, sir," Jeff said, running up to him.

Keaton jumped a bit as Jeff came up behind him, "Dumbass, you have got to stop doing that!"

"Just because I find things in boxes when I break them doesn't mean you have to be jealous," Jeff said.

Keaton looked at him, "What? Dude, you're like a Stormtrooper. You can't aim! That's why you keep running low on ammo."

Jeff looked like he was about ready to put a hole through Keaton's head so Piers cut in.

"Guys, as much as we need some comic relief, now isn't the time. Follow the captain."

"Yes, sir," Keaton said as he ran off.

Jeff shook his head, "Fucking Keaton…"

"Hey," Piers said, "Don't let it get to you, alright? It's not worth it."

Jeff nodded, "Thanks, Lieutenant."

Piers watched as he ran after the others. He felt a familiar sensation in the back of his mind, the sense of being watched, not by the enemy, by something else. His heart began to pound as that nagging feeling grew stronger and stronger with every breath he took. Something moved behind him and he whipped around with his gun up and ready to fire.

"Meow?"

Piers smiled and shook his head as he lowered his gun. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed, "You think this is a safe place? You'll get hurt."

The cat just sat there on a nearby table, staring at him with its bright green eyes. It was a long haired cat with a dark gray splotch design on its white fur. Its dark gray tail swayed back and forth almost cleaning the dirt off the table top it sat on. It didn't have a collar so Piers guessed it was a feral cat.

A feral cat with a very familiar look to it.

"Piers! Come on!"

Piers turned around to the captain's voice, "On my way, sir!"

When he turned back around to tell the cat to leave, it was gone. He looked around to see if it left for sure then ran towards the squad.

"Everything okay?" Chris asked.

Piers looked at him, "Yeah. I just…saw a cat…"

Chris looked at him weirdly, "A cat?"

"Angie loves cats so I thought I should at least tell it to get to safety," Piers said.

"Most girls love cats. Even Jill loves cats," Chris said, "But, Christ, you could get into some serious trouble when you're distracted like that."

"I'm sorry, Captain," Piers said, looking to the side, "It's just every time I see a cat I kind of…well, it gets to me sometimes."

Chris looked at him for a moment and started walking, "That's not a good excuse. Come on, just don't stop walking and remember where we are."

Piers nodded and followed the captain.

* * *

_Junior year he was able to take another visit to his hometown. Piers didn't want Angie to meet him at the airport since it was a hard day for her to begin with. Pam said she wouldn't see him at the airport and her excuse sounded lame and suspicious at the same time, just like always. Piers didn't care. It gave him time to feel free for a little bit and get away from the overly jealous atmosphere she brought with her every time Angie was there. _

_Piers' father was waiting near a tan Toyota Camry to pick him up. They went into a manly father-son embrace and put Piers' bags in the trunk of the car. _

_"Really, Dad? A Toyota?" Piers asked when they got in the car._

_His father chuckled, "Don't get too excited. This is your mother's car."_

_"Where's yours?" Piers asked._

_"In the shop. Poor thing needs a new ignition," his father said, starting up the car._

_"Poor thing needs to be put down," Piers said, putting his hand to his face._

_"Poor thing is a 1967 Dodge Charger," his father said, proudly._

_"Poor thing is old and even older looking," Piers stated._

_His father sighed, "How about this? When they come out with a new charger, I'll get rid of this one and get the new one. Deal?"_

_"What if they don't?" Piers asked._

_"They will. I can feel it in my Charger senses," his father said, holding out his hand._

_Piers hesitated then shook his hand and his father drove away from the airport._

_ "I just don't want you guys in it when that thing decides to die while you're driving it," Piers said, watching the buildings go by._

_"Nothing will happen, son," his father said._

_"Better not because I demand you guys to die of old age. Plus, I want you guys to see your grandchildren," Piers said._

_ "Wait with whom?" his father asked, then his eyes narrowed, "Is Pam pregnant?"_

_Piers looked at his father in shock, "What? Dad! Hell no!"_

_"Good!" his father said, "That girl is a fucking bitch. I hate to say it but I wouldn't be surprised if she was cheating on you."_

_Piers looked back out the window. Sadly, he wouldn't doubt it either with the way she's been acting lately. A billboard of the ASPCA caught his eye and he smiled, "Hey, Dad. Can we make a detour?"_

_His father became confused but answered, "Sure, to where?"_

_"A pet shelter," Piers said._

_His father went silent before he said, "Um, no, you can't get a pet. You're barely home."_

_Piers laughed, "I know, I know. The pet isn't for me."_

_His father went silent again before he realized what Piers meant, "Ooohh… Angie?"_

_Piers nodded._

_His father sarcastically said, "Alright but she has to clean up after it and feed it and give it all the attention it needs."_

_"Oh, she will," Piers said._

_His father gave out a hardy laugh, "I **know** she will. Shit, majority of the time we have to force her to eat our food and use our utilities otherwise she would waste her money on doing things her own way."_

_Angie had moved in with Piers' parents after the fire. Piers insisted on it since his father was in the military and prepared for another Raccoon City incident when the zombie problem got worse. Everyone in the United States was convinced that America was going to become a zombie war zone at the rate the virus was spreading. And, if the rumors were true, it was mutating. Angie was a skeptic but did it anyway to make Piers happy._

_"Do you know what kind of pet she wants?" his father asked._

_Piers thought for a little bit and then answered, "Well, she likes Ragdoll cat."_

_His father laughed, "Do you know how hard it is to find a Ragdoll cat? Ask your mother what her vet office has in cats that don't have a home."_

_Piers grabbed his father's phone from the GPS holder and called his mother._

_"Have you picked up Piers yet?" his mother picked up the phone._

_"Hi, Mom," Piers said. _

_Piers moved the phone away from his ear a bit as his mother's voice suddenly rose to a higher and unbearable excited pitch, "Piers! Oh my God! Hi, Sweetie!"_

_"Hey, I have a quick question," Piers said, hesitating to put the phone close to his ear, "What cats are up for adoption at your office?"_

_"Well," his mother said before a long pause, "There's a few of them, mostly mixed breeds. I know for sure that there's a tuxedo cat. He even has a cute little mustache. I call him Charlie because of Charlie Chaplin. I was thinking about taking him home one day-"_

_"Mom, are there any others?" Piers asked, getting a little anxious._

_There was a pause and then his mother asked, "You're not getting a cat, are you?"_

_"Not for me. I'm getting it for Angie. Dad said it was okay and it's supposed to be a surprise, so don't tell her!" Piers said._

_"Of course it's okay! She cleans and feeds herself. Most of the time I have to force her to eat the food I buy and use my laundry machines and whatnot," his mother said._

_Piers looked at his father, "So I've heard."_

_"But anyway there's a tuxedo cat, a grey cat, there's what we think is a Calico mix, a cute little Ragdoll kitten, there's another kitten that's a tabby mix-"_

_"Wait," Piers interrupted, "Ragdoll kitten? How much?"_

_"Oh, Sweetie, she costs nothing," his mother said, "I am the owner, after all."_

_Piers nodded, "Does she have her shots?"_

_"I can call up right now to get someone to give her the shots," his mother offered._

_"That would be awesome," Piers said, "Thanks, Mom, I owe you one."_

_After picking up the kitten, Piers and his father pulled up in the driveway to see his mother waiting for them at the door. She ran up to the passenger side and greeted Piers with a big hug and a kiss on the head._

_"Oh, Mom, don't cry," Piers said._

_Pier's mother wiped the tears off her cheek, "I'm sorry, I'm just so happy to see you."_

_Piers shook his head and looked over her shoulder. Angie was slowly walking up to him and smiling, her hands behind her back. Piers' mother moved out of the way so they could greet each other. They both gave each other a friendly hug as his father took the kitten inside without Angie noticing. She obviously had some sleepless nights because of how heavy the bags were under her eyes._

_"Welcome back, Nivans," Angie said._

_Piers laughed, "Still calling me by my last name when I'm in uniform, huh?"_

_"Always," Angie said, letting go of him._

_"There is something different about you," Piers said._

_Angie rolled her eyes, "I know. I've got some serious eye bags. I haven't been sleeping much."_

_"No, your hair has gotten longer. Last I saw it, it was cut to your shoulders," Piers said, holding a lock of her hair. _

_"Yeah that, too," Angie said, "Now it's to the middle of my back."_

_Piers subconsciously began stroking her cheek with the back of his finger as he continued to hold her lock of hair. He realized what he was doing and casually put his hand on her shoulder like nothing happened, "Let's go inside. It's kind of cold out here."_

_He saw her blush as she looked away a bit, "Yeah, and I don't have a jacket."_

_Piers couldn't help but continue thinking about what he did as they went to their room. He let Angie stay in his room since he wouldn't use it much and there weren't any extra rooms. He set his bags down and flopped on his bed with a heavy sigh._

_There was a knock at the door shortly afterwards and his father peered in, "Hey, Piers, can you help me with something?"_

_That was the queue to give the kitten to Angie, "Man, Dad, I'm barely home and you're already putting me to work."_

_Angie laughed a little bit as she began reading her book, sitting on her bed. _

_Piers and his father hurried to the living room where the kitten sat in the vet box silently. They both looked at each other as Piers rubbed his hands together._

_"You look like an evil villain plotting to take over the world," his father laughed._

_Piers laughed excitedly and opened up the box. The kitten didn't even try to jump out; she just looked up at Piers with her bright green eyes. Her long fur was white with light grey splotches. Piers picked her up and headed towards the room where he had left the door slightly cracked. He set the kitten down and coaxed her to walk in. The kitten mewed and Piers heard Angie gasp._

_"Well, hello there, little one. Where did you come from?"_

_As soon as felt his gut tell him to go in, Piers walked in to see Angie sitting on her bed with the kitten walking around her._

_"Oh no, where'd this kitten come from? Better tell my parents to not leave the back door open," Piers said in an obviously fake tone._

_Angie looked at him, "You didn't."_

_Piers looked around obviously pretending, "I have no idea what you're talking about."_

_Angie shook her head, "Nivans, this is a Ragdoll kitten. Full breeds can be expensive!"_

_"Yes, I know," Piers sat down next to her, "But I knew you loved cats and thought you would be lonely because you know you miss my awesome presence."_

_Angie rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I just can't get enough of you."_

_Piers saw Angie blush a bit and continued playing along, "Well, I am sexy."_

_Angie held in her laugh, "Yeah, okay. Don't think too highly of that just because you're wearing a uniform."_

_"Are you kidding me?" Piers said, "This uniform just **defines** my sexiness even more."_

_Angie couldn't hold it in any longer and lost it. If the kitten wasn't on the bed she would be lying down, laughing her ass off._

_After they laughed for a few minutes, they finally calmed down and fell silent._

_"But in all seriousness," Angie piped up, as the kitten wrapped herself in a tight ball in in her lap, "She's the best gift I've ever gotten."_

_"Aw, come on, now I'm sure you've gotten something better than this before," Piers said._

_"No, really. No one has ever thought of me this much to get me a gift this great in my life," Angie said._

_Once Piers saw her stop petting the kitten and her face covered with her long black hair, he knew something was wrong. He had an idea of what was going through her mind and hugged her. Piers didn't know how it felt, but he can only imagine how much it hurt Angie to have the day of her parents death also be her birthday._

_"Happy birthday, Angie," Piers said softly._

_Angie grabbed the front of his uniform tightly and began sobbing._

* * *

"Lieutenant, look out!"

A flash of light woke him from his trance like state as a helicopter flew really close to them.

_Where the hell…? _Piers thought.

"Move, move, move!"

Piers followed Chris' command and started running in the direction of the helicopter with the others. As soon as they got to the side of an abandoned car, Piers spotted a J'avo with a RPG aimed at the chopper.

"Oh, shit!"

They all stood there and watched as the RPG hit the chopper causing it to spin a few times and crash into the building in front of it.

"I doubt there will be any survivors but it's worth a try, I guess," Piers muttered under his breath as they ran towards it.

As they got closer, the crashed chopper fell from the building and exploded as soon as it hit the ground. Alpha Team took cover behind some cars and waited until it was safe. Chris slowly rose from behind a car as the others did the same. Their route had been blocked by the crashed helicopter and they had to find another way into the building.

"Aw, fuck, man!" Reid yelled, "Those bastards are going to pay!"

Piers saw a body charred to the point of no recognition. He bowed his head and closed his eyes. Then, he looked at Chris for orders.

"We've gotta put an end to this mess," Chris said, staring at the flames.

"Alpha Team," HQ called in, "Proceed along Route Niner. Take a back alley to get to the Ace of Spades."

Piers watched as Chris shook his head and then made his way to a set of double doors. Chris stopped just short of the doorway and Piers asked, "Captain, you remember anything?"

Chris looked over at Piers and sighed, "I'm still trying to wrap my head around what I'm seeing here."

Chris, then, ran to the door and called to Piers for help. Piers knew he was lying. He could tell the captain was remembering something, he saw it in his eyes. But Piers decided not to say anything and followed the captain's orders.


	7. Chapter 6

_**Yay! Chapter 6! I'm sorry for the delays, guys. My profile explains why. **_

_**Also I have edited Chapter 4 and 5. I would advise that you reread those before continuing. I'll tell you where I edited them so you don't have to reread the whole thing if you don't want to. Marco is the captain of Bravo Team (and not with Alpha Team yet in the campaign) and I had to add Jeff in there, too (poor guy) so I pretty much replaced Marco's part with Jeff. I also made Jeff the comic relief since he was one of the guys that really didn't have a proper character build up. Chapter 4 is changed a bit after they get their shots. Chapter 5 is changed before the cat and a tiny bit after the chopper crashes.**_

_**This chapter contains some language as well as some spoilers (little ones). Also, this chapter has a little bit of sexual context closer to the end (it's not in detail but I still want to warn you guys).**_

_**If you see anything you think is wrong, let me know. As always, I don't appreciate rude comments.**_

_**Enjoy :)**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Resident Evil or Piers Nivans, Chris Redfield, Keaton, Reid, Jeff, or Marco Rose. They are owned by Capcom. This story is inspired by Josh Groban's 'Feel Like Home' from his album Illuminations.**_

* * *

Chapter 6

Echo team was overwhelmed with J'avo. Chris, Piers, and the others had to get to them before something bad happened. Even though they were so close, they were all taking it as if they were too far away. On the way, Alpha Team had been overrun with the enemy but they were able to put them down easily.

They finally were able to run to the building Echo team was in and opened the door. First thing Piers saw was one of the men being grabbed by the neck and lifted up. Piers pointed his gun, took careful aim at the J'avo's shoulder, and pulled the trigger.

Bull's eye!

The J'avo went flying as the Echo team member fell down, catching his breath. Chris ran over to get him and Piers continued to assist the others when he heard a J'avo screaming in agony.

"Great, now they scream to try and disorient us? This ought to be interesting," Piers muttered to himself as he continued shooting the other enemies.

After hearing a big thud, Piers glanced over at Chris, who was just standing there in shock with his gun lowered. He watched as the J'avo he shot stumbled towards the captain now with a large mutated arm.

_I shot that arm. Don't tell me he… _

Piers' thoughts were interrupted when the J'avo pulled back his arm and went for Chris.

"Captain!" Piers yelled as he ran over to Chris and tackled him.

Piers sat up and looked over at Chris as he looked over at the Echo team member that was now dead in front of him. He gripped his shoulder, letting him know they needed to get rid of that J'avo.

Piers got on the communication to HQ and let them know that they had just witnessed a J'avo mutation.

"Shoot it! Keep them back!" Chris yelled.

"This guy just won't go down!" Piers said more to himself.

After the mutated threats were terminated and an 'all clear' was given, Chris and the others looked around a bit while they tended to the ones that were hurt.

One guy in particular caught Piers' attention while Reid took care of him. The memories came back to him like it was yesterday. If Piers wasn't mistaken, his name was Omar. He was known to get others in trouble by lying to the superiors and showing false proof about it. Unfortunately Piers was a victim to one of his fibs back in the academy. Even though Omar was a grade lower than him, he was still able to do some damage. It almost sent him home for good and not able to be hired in the military at all.

Omar sat there with his slightly bloody leg stretched out in front of him as he started telling Reid about his girl back home.

"Your girl, huh? Girlfriend?" Reid asked.

"Fiancée," Omar corrected.

"Congratulations," Piers said, walking up to him with a smug look, "Is she nice?"

Omar stared at him for a bit. Piers could tell he recognized him but didn't want to admit it, "She's perfect. There's nothing bad about her."

Piers looked around while nodding, "What's your perfect girl's name?"

"Why do you want to know?" Omar asked, giving him a rude look.

Reid leaned towards his ear and whispered, "Dude, that's my lieutenant. You might want to rephrase your sentence."

The man's eyes widened. Piers had advanced faster and higher than Omar, making Omar's bragging about being an overachiever irrelevant. It looks like some of those lies came back to bite him in the ass.

_What happened to you bragging, Omar? _Piers thought with a smile and raised an eyebrow.

Omar swallowed, "Um, her name is Pamela, sir."

"What's her last name, out of curiosity?" Piers asked.

Omar tilted his head, "Manson, sir."

_Pamela Manson,_ Piers thought, then smiled again.

"Do you know her, sir?" Reid asked, after Piers rubbed his thumb and finger around the opening of his mouth, trying to hold in the laughter and hide the smile.

Piers shook his head, "Not at all."

Then he turned around, continuing to hold in the giggles, _Nothing bad about her, huh? Serves you right._

"Everything alright?" Chris asked.

Piers continued to hold back the laughs, "Yeah, just found out that my bitchy ex, Pam, is going to marry some asshole from my academy. How ironic."

"What's so ironic?" Chris asked.

"Now that is a story I have to tell you," Piers said.

Chris stood there as if wanting Piers to continue, "Yeah?"

Piers looked at Chris as he stood there with a blank stare.

"Sir, we're in the middle of a mission," Piers said.

Chris looked around, "Yes, but from what I see we're taking care of the wounded."

It was Piers' turn to give a blank stare, "Are you sure?"

"HQ doesn't need to know," Chris said.

Piers continued to stare, "Are you really that interested in my past?"

"Well, if I remember correctly you agreed-"

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Piers said, "And since I remember it like a thorn in my side, I'll start with the week after I graduated."

* * *

_"Yo, Nivans!"_

_Piers turned around and squinted at the bright flashing lights at the direction the Spanish accented voice came from._

_"Sorry, I'm late."_

_Piers smiled when he saw the face of one of his fellow graduates, "Jordan!"_

_Piers and Jordan bumped each other's fists and then hugged each other with one arm._

_Even though the graduation already happened, anyone who lived in the same town as Piers decided to have a party of their own and reserved a small mom-and-pop bar for them. The owners were well known among majority of the people including Piers' parents. Even though the drinks were strictly non-alcoholic, they all were having a good time and dancing to the live music._

_"Where's your girl?" Jordan asked._

_Piers paused for a minute as he opened his mouth to make some lame excuse for her. But he decided that tell the truth, "She's supposedly sick."_

_Jordan shook his head, "She is one sketchy girl, man."_

_Piers just shrugged as he took a sip of his soda, "Yeah, well, I have a feeling that it's not going to last anyway."_

_"You're breaking up with her?" Jordan said, trying to contain his excitement. When Piers paused with the cup at his lips and gave him a questioningly look, he cleared his throat, "I mean, you're going to break up with her? Oh, that's a shame."_

_Piers pushed Jordan playfully, "Asshole. But, yeah, I'm just tired of her excuses and I just don't feel anything towards her anymore."_

_"Well," Jordan said as they leaned against the wall like a couple of badasses, "Shit happens."_

_Piers nodded and took another sip of his soda._

_"I think you should try the date that best friend of yours."_

_Piers nearly spit his soda out when he heard what Jordan said._

_"What's her name? Ashley?"_

_"Angie?" Piers yelled almost frantic. The music was loud enough not to cause any weird looks._

_"Angie!" Jordan corrected himself, "Why don't you go out with her? She seems to be a great girl."_

_Piers couldn't believe what he was hearing. Date his best friend? "I can't do that!"_

_"Of course you can!" Jordan said, "It's not like she's your sister."_

_"She might as well be," Piers said, giving his friend a 'shut up or I'll punch you' look._

_Jordan held his hands up, "Alright, dude. But I'm telling you, you're going to look at her one day like a zombie looks at a living person."_

_Piers looked at Jordan in confusion._

_Jordan looked back at him, "What? Too soon?"_

_"That was a very disturbing metaphor," Piers said._

_"You know what I mean," Jordan said, trying to dismiss the subject with a wave of his hand, "Anyway, what are you going to do now that you're graduated?"_

_Piers cleared his throat to make sure his mind was on the new subject, "Um, well, I was thinking about joining the Special Forces in the army."_

_Jordan whistled, "Well, I have nothing. I don't even know what to join. I guess I'll read up on the Special Forces. Maybe that can do something for me."_

_"Don't just settle on something," Piers said, "Although it would probably be cool to have a buddy with me."_

_Jordan chuckled, "I'll let you know what I think."_

_Piers and Jordan migrated their way to the bar as they continued to chat for about an hour. After Jordan was asked to dance by one of the guy's sister, Piers ended up sitting alone to his thoughts. _

_He started feeling a bit lonely and wanted to talk to someone, but not just anyone. He wanted to talk to Angie. He started realizing how he felt at the sight of her; how she made everything bad go away with just the sound of her voice. Piers grabbed the stone hanging around his neck and began rubbing it. Angie had given it to his as a graduation gift. _

_"It's your birth stone," she had said as he put he on. He hadn't taken it off since. _

_Maybe Jordan was right about dating Angie. He should give it a try. _

_He smiled as he got an image of her smiling as he chased her on the beach. She had fed the seagulls the rest of his chips left over from lunch that day. He had caught up to her by grabbing her from behind and lifting her in the air. They both had laughed as Piers started tickling her as punishment. He could feel his heartbeat began to speed up a bit._

_Reality came crashing down when someone suddenly slammed into the bar next to him. He looked over and saw Jordan staring at him with wide eyes. _

_"Don't turn around, man," he said in a low voice._

_Curious as to what he was talking about, Piers tried to turn around._

_"No, man, I'm serious!" Jordan exclaimed, holding Piers' face towards his and squishing it at the same time._

_"What is so bad that I can't see?" Piers said between pursed lips, trying to get Jordan's hands off of him._

_Jordan's eyes turned from frantic to sadness. Then, he sighed and slowly let Piers' face go. As Jordan lowered his head, Piers turned around and did a double take. After staring at the sight and his heart dropping, he looked back at Jordan, not knowing what to say. _

_Jordan looked at Piers with apologetic eyes and shook his head, letting him know that he had no idea. _

_Piers took a deep breath and nodded his head, as if telling his friend this was how it was going to end. Then he stood up and walked up to one of his other buddies._

_The guy turned around with a smile, "Piers!"_

_Piers smiled and then looked at the girl at his side, "Pam, can we talk?"_

_Pam slowly turned around and looked at Piers with wide eyes._

_"Preferably in private," Piers said, and then opened his mouth and looked at his buddy, "Actually, you can feel free to follow if you want, seeing as this involves you now, too."_

_Piers held out a hand, motioning to the back door. When no one moved, he proceeded to nudge them in that direction and ended up outside in a somewhat lit up alleyway. After pushing them far enough from the door, as it slammed closed behind them, Piers stared at them as they turned around._

_"Piers, what the fuck are you doing?" his buddy said._

_Piers stepped back a bit as he saw Pam turn around and try to give him the 'I'm innocent' eyes. Then he shook his head and smiled in disbelief._

_"Piers, please," Pam said._

_Piers put his hands up to stop her as he took a few deep breathes. After controlling his anger, he asked, "How long?"_

_"Piers," Pam started before she was interrupted._

_"How long?" he asked again sternly._

_After a long pause, his buddy looked at Pam as he realized what was going on. He stepped back from Pam as if she was infected and started trying to hold in the laughter._

_Pam shook her head as Piers' buddy started laughing, "Unbelievable! Is this fucking true?"_

_Pam crossed her arms in front of her and started crying as she looked away from the guys._

_"What the fuck, Pam?" Piers' buddy asked, "Six months, to answer your question." _

_Piers looked at him with his eyes, "Thank you." _

_"She had a boyfriend before me, too," his buddy said, making Piers look at him, "And I can tell you from the fucking pictures she showed me, it wasn't you."_

_Piers looked at Pam and started laughing, "Are you shitting me?"_

_Pam started to speak when Piers interrupted her again, "How many?"_

_Pam started comforting herself by rubbing her arms with her hands, "I'm sorry."_

_"How many, Pam?" Piers yelled as Pam yelled the word 'three' over his booming voice._

_Piers heard the door open but didn't turn around to see who it was._

_His buddy kept cursing as he put one hand through his hair and the other on his mouth, not believing what he was hearing._

_"Why?" Piers said, "Why?"_

_"Well, what was I supposed to do?" Pam asked, "You were never there. I was so lonely."_

_"I was at the academy," Piers said, "And why didn't you tell me? We could've had a mutual break up."_

_Pam shook her head, "Because I didn't want to break your heart."_

_"So, you thought cheating on me was your best option?" Piers asked, as he got closer to her._

_"Well, you have that whore, Angie. Why don't you hang all over her like you always do?" Pam asked._

_"Excuse me?" Piers said as Pam cowered away, "I don't hang on her! And even if I do Angie is my best friend. That's it!"_

_"Then why do you always have her in your arms!" Pam exclaimed._

_"I'm comforting her from her nightmares," Piers explained._

_"Nightmares?" Pam said, calmly, "Nightmares from being chased by zombies? News flash, Piers! Look at our world now. Everyone has those nightmares! What's her excuse?"_

_Piers stared at her as it fell silent. After seeing Pam's small spurt of courage die down, he said, "Angie lost her parents in one of the most tragic ways possible. She watched as her infected mother grabbed her to try and eat her. She watched as her father threw a match, making her mother go up in flames and put the house on fire. She watched as her father threw himself in that fire because he had been bitten. She watched her house and her parents burn to nothing but ashes! She has nothing, do you hear me? Nothing! It all died in that fire! We don't all have the 'perfect life' you have, Pam. I'm sure the only thing Angie wants in this whole world is to feel the warmth of her mothers arms and the voice of her father torturing some poor boy who falls in love with his daughter with embarrassing questions. _

_"Now I've done nothing but treat you with respect and kindness. I've done nothing but try and make you feel wanted and loved. I've done nothing but make sure we were able to see each other when I visited. And what do I get in return?" _

_Piers paused a bit to let his words sink in. Then he looked at his buddy, who had his hand over his face as Jordan patted his back, "I'm sorry you had to be involved in this."_

_His buddy looked at Piers and sighed, "It's not your fault."_

_Then he walked out of the alleyway to his car to leave after taking one last angry and hurt look at Pam._

_Jordan looked at Piers and then at Pam._

_Piers also looked at Pam, who was now sobbing in her hands. He didn't know what to do. He was so angry with her, he just wanted to hurt her, not physically, but emotionally. Just like she had done to him. But he thought that he should be the better person and not try to get revenge on something so petty. So, he closed his eyes and sighed. _

_"I want you to look at me."_

_When he opened his eyes, Pam's watery ones were on him. He stared for a bit, almost feeling sorry for her. Then he finally spoke, "I just wanted you to know, that just because I was trained to look tough and maintain our emotions, doesn't mean my heart is stone cold and solid. It can still break from sadness and knowing what you did behind my back really did the trick. I just hope that the next poor sap that dates you doesn't become as hurt as I do when you break his heart. There is no excuse for cheating. None at all!"_

_Then he straightened himself but never took his eyes off her, "And with that, I never want to speak to you again. If I end up seeing you, it better be you walking away from me or not acknowledging me." _

_Leaving Pam alone, he turned around and walked to the door with Jordan tailing behind. Piers walked to the front door and put his jacket on when Jordan called for him._

_"I'm sorry, man," Jordan said, "I just…"_

_Piers put a hand on Jordan's shoulder and smiled, "It's alright, man. I would've found out eventually."_

_Jordan still felt guilty for not stopping him from turning around. He looked at the floor in shame, "You're my buddy. You were there when no one else ever wanted anything to do with me. The last thing want to do is lie to you, especially if it involves your girl."_

_Piers ruffled his hair, "Hey, I know you did it for a good cause. You're my buddy, too."_

_Jordan looked at Piers and smiled._

_"There's that smile," Piers said, "But I'm going to head home, I've had enough surprises for tonight."_

_"I'll walk you there until I reach my street," Jordan said, grabbing his jacket._

_Piers nodded, "Sounds good."_

_When Piers walked through the door, he was greeted by darkness. The only light he saw was from the down the hallway. He was also greeted with the smell of Angie's strawberry bath soap and something rubbing against his legs._

_ After it registered in his mind, Piers jumped a bit and ran to the switch, turning the lights on._

_"Meow?"_

_Piers sighed in relief, "You like to scare me, don't you, Maggie?"_

_Angie's ragdoll cat, now full grown, stared at him as she sat in front of the open door. It was hard to believe that it was only a year since he last saw Maggie and she was a kitten then._

_Piers closed the front door and took his jacket off, "Smells like Mommy's taking a bath."_

_Somehow Maggie knew he was talking about Angie and pranced to the room they shared._

_Piers walked down the hallway and into the room. After taking his stuff out of his pockets and got into a pair of pajama pants, his phone chimed. He looked at the text message and read that his parents were just getting onto the plane. He smiled and texted back, telling them to have fun on their trip. _

_His parents didn't want the world to go into complete ruin before they visited their honeymoon spot again. But since Piers' graduation had been coming up, they planned the trip a week after. Piers didn't mind. They deserved a vacation._

_"Hey, sexy one."_

_Piers turned around and saw Angie standing in the doorway. Her hair was up in a clip so it didn't end up in the bath water. She had one hand on her hip and the other was holding up the towel around her. Both of them didn't mind being half naked in front of each other, seeing as they've been best friends for years._

_"You've got some muscle now, I see," Angie said, slightly teasing him._

_Piers realized he didn't have a shirt on, "Well, the academy is like boot camp at some points of the day."_

_"How was the party?" she asked._

_Piers sat down after grabbing his shirt off his bed, "Interesting to say the least."_

_"Uh oh," Angie said, walking to him, "Was there another fight?"_

_Piers shook his head, getting the shirt ready to put on. He wanted to tell her the news but he couldn't find the words. He told himself that it would be easy but for some reason, the words weren't coming out._

_"By the way," Angie said, heading to the dresser, "I broke up with my boyfriend. You were right. He's a douche that will live in his grandmother's basement forever because he has no idea how to treat people with respect and honesty."_

_Piers made a little chuckle but didn't was still spaced out._

_Angie started pulling out pajamas, "Well, I've got to put something on before I freeze my ass off."_

_"Pam cheated on me."_

_Angie stopped what she was doing and turned around, kind of taken aback by what Piers had just blurted out._

_Piers sat there with his shirt nowhere near being on him as he chuckled, still bewildered by Pam's selfishness, "She cheated on me with three other guys."_

_Angie slowly straightened up as Piers told her the story of what happened at the bar. She seemed have this look of shock in her eyes as Piers looked at her._

_"And that's why the night was so interesting," Piers said in a low voice._

_"Piers," Angie said._

_Something about the look on her face and the tone in her voice made the floodgates open and Piers began crying. He put his face in his hands, trying to stop but all the emotion that was held back from the incident came ten fold. _

_Angie ran to him and hugged him. She was short enough to hug him properly while standing as Piers cried into her shoulder. _

_"Do you want me to handle her?" Angie said, trying to lighten the mood a bit._

_"As much as I wouldn't mind it, we would both have a guilty conscience hanging over us," Piers said, "Just leave her alone and hope that she doesn't rip someone else's heart out."_

_Angie fell silent; agreeing with is words in a nod._

_They both let go and then looked at each other._

_Piers didn't know whether it was his imagination or what but it seemed like Angie was leaning in closer to him. Before they knew it, their lips were locked on each other's. After a few long seconds, Angie broke the kiss and looked at him in shocked._

_"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," she said as she took a step back. _

_Then she turned around and headed to the dresser._

_But Piers got up, turned Angie around, and cut her off from rambling on with another kiss, "You have no idea how long I've waited to do that."_

_Angie pulled back again, "We can't do this?"_

_Piers kissed her again, "Why not?"_

_Angie continued to look at him with wide eyes, "We're best friends."_

_Piers kissed her again, this time on her neck. He could feel her melt in his arms, "Yes."_

_"Best friends don't do this," Angie stuttered._

_"Oh, I agree," Piers said, trailing kisses up and down her neck._

_"Piers," Angie whispered, "We're best friends."_

_Piers agreed with her without taking his mouth off her neck._

_"And you're going in the military," Angie said._

_"Yeah," Piers said, now trailing the kisses along her jaw line, making her melt more._

_"I mean, there's no problem with that but…"_

_Piers looked at her, waiting for the answer, "But?"_

_Angie looked into Piers' eyes, "There is no problem with that at all."_

_This time Angie kissed him back without holding back. Their kiss grew from a simple one to a passionate one in a matter of milliseconds._

_Piers heard Maggie meow at the door as he closed the door with his foot. _

Sorry, Maggie, she's all mine tonight, _Piers thought as he laid Angie on her bed._

_He began trailing kisses further down than just his neck as she tugged at his pants. She let him pull the towel off her body as he continued downward. One of his hands made one of her legs wrap around him as the other kneaded her breast. She gasped as his mouth found her other breast and licked over the hardened nipple. When he was done with that one, he did the same to the other as she continued to moan in pleasure. As he trailed more kissed up towards her neck, Angie had somehow pushed his pants to his knees._

_Before anything happened, Piers looked at Angie, looking for reassurance that she was okay with this. Her body language and face made it obvious that she wanted him so he made his move. _

* * *

"Well, that escalated quickly," Chris said.

"Funny," Piers said, scratching the back of his head, "I said the exact same thing when we woke up the next morning. Needless to say that was the day we started being together."

"We're ready when you are, sir."

Chris looked at Keaton, who was standing straight, waiting for his captain to say his orders. Chris nodded and told two of the men to stay with the wounded.

"Where the hell is Jeff?" Piers asked.

As if on queue, a box fell down, making everyone ready for a possible threat.

"Right here, Lieutenant," Jeff said, popping up behind Piers.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Piers said, trying not to have a heart attack.

"Seriously, Jeff. Those fucking boxes aren't worth your life!" Keaton said.

"Stop wandering off like that, Jeff," Chris said in a stern voice.

"Yes, sir," Jeff responded, "Sorry sir."

After calming himself down, Piers let HQ know that they were moving along Route Niner as they headed up the stairs and out the door. Chris nearly fell when he noticed almost too late that there was a sudden drop. Piers grabbed his vest and pulled his back to safety.

Chris nodded his thanks and dropped down the safer way. As soon as the others were down, Chris and Piers went for the next door that would lead them to Route Niner.

"Oh! A box!"

Piers rolled his eyes and turned around as he heard a wooden box being broken and watched as Jeff picked up a full box of ammo. All of them looked at him as he pocketed the free bullets and got ready to continue on.

"What the fuck…?" Keaton said in a confused tone as Piers and Chris opened the next door.


	8. Chapter 7

_**A quick chapter before I don't get internet for another... god knows how long. I literally just wrote this in a few hours, proofread it a few times and am now posting it. So, as a warning, it might be a bit boring (Eehy! I just rhymed! Kinda...). I was at a friends house who had internet so I wanted to get this posted since it popped in my head right then and there. **_

_**This chapter contains some language and continues to have spoilers (I don't think there will ever be a chapter with no spoilers). **_

_**As always, be mature. I don't appreciate rude comments.**_

_**Enjoy :)**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Resident Evil or Piers Nivans, Chris Redfield, or Marco Rose. They are owned by Capcom. This story is inspired by Josh Groban's 'Feel Like Home' from his album Illuminations.**_

* * *

Chapter 7

After killing countless J'avo, being separated, and running through obstacles, Alpha Team reached the Ace of Spades, which was nothing more than a tall, rundown tenement building. They were informed that some UN staff had been held hostage there and they were to search for them and rescue them. Bravo Team came to aid them when the hostiles formed an ambush.

"Glad that's over," Piers said as he reloaded his guns after it was all clear.

"Good thing we came. That was a pain in the ass," Marco said as he and Bravo team rushed over to where Piers and Chris were, "Where are the others?"

"We got separated," Chris said, "And you were barely here for the ambush. Why the hell are you out of breath?"

Marco snorted, "We had to deal with an RPG while in a helicopter before this. That was a pain in the ass, too, not to mention pant-shitting scary."

Piers rolled his eyes and smiled, "Come on, let's finish this."

As they opened the door into the building, the communicator piped up.

"HQ to Alpha, we have your mission brief. Rescue the hostages on the first and seventh floors then get out of the building. As soon as all teams are clear, we will commence bombing."

Hearing that, they went through the other door that led to what looked like marketplace. Almost immediately afterwards, they were attacked. There were all sorts of separated walls, which made it difficult to know where everyone was. Piers ended up running in front of Chris a few times without even realizing it.

"Lieutenant Nivans! Try not to get in the way," he heard Marco yell as a Bravo team member ran in front of Piers.

"Tell your team to do the same, Captain Rose!" Piers yelled back.

"Can it, you two! This whole fucking floor is a maze so everyone should be watching where they're going," Chris said.

_So we have to watch our enemies while we watch our backs to make sure we don't get hit by friendly fire. Why don't we just pick a spot and stay there? _Piers thought.

Unfortunately the enemy didn't like sitting still and, as a result, Piers and the others had to move as well. Plus, unlike them, the J'avo had no problems being shots thousands of times. It felt like it took an eternity to clear the place of those things.

Piers sighed and took a few green herbal pills to numb the pain the bullet gave him from hitting his vest, "I can't wait until this mission is done."

"You and me both, brother," Marco yelled from somewhere on the floor.

"Where the hell do we go? Where's the door to the stairs?" one of the Bravo men said.

"Don't tell me we're lost. This is pitiful," another Bravo man said, almost laughing.

After a few minutes, they finally found the stairs and headed down to the seventh floor. After passing through what looked like a lobby area, they found some J'avo with their backs towards them.

_Somewhat of an upper hand, _Piers thought as they opened fire on them.

After finishing them off, Bravo Team ran down the hallway.

One of them gave out a surprised yell, making Piers and Chris ran down to assist them. When they turned the corner, they found Marco being held by a J'avo as his men slowly got up from being thrown. They both shot at the J'avo to free Marco from it's grasp. After it dropped dead, Piers stared at it, making sure it wasn't going to get up and grow an arm.

When nothing heppend, he turned around and watched Chris' face form a mixture of confusion and shock, "What the fuck?"

Then he pointed his assault rifle towards the ceiling. Piers ran to his side and saw two mutated J'avo with the upper half of their bodies attached to the body of a…

…Spider?

One of them started shooting at them while still hanging from the ceiling. That's when Piers thought it was a good idea to start shooting back. They seemed easy to kill since there was another doorway behind the J'avo, where Bravo Team went to and shot at them from there.

They looked around a little more to see if they missed any other doors.

"HQ to Alpha. The hostages are just up ahead of you," the communicator said, just as they entered another area, "Eliminate the hostiles in there and get those people out of there."

One of the Bravo Team members found one closed door and yelled for the others. Everyone got into position as Piers radioed that they were going in. A Bravo kicked in the door and they were taken aback slightly as they saw two of the UN staff members being held by those spider J'avo's. Then they jumped at them and ran away down the hallway.

"Damn, these fuckers are fast," Marco yelled, after chasing them back into the lobby area.

"Everyone spread out and shoot at them when they get to where you are," Chris ordered.

"Roger," everyone said in unison.

"Careful you don't hurt the hostages!" Chris yelled.

"Riiight…" Piers said as he saw the spider things holding them as human shields.

After shooting a few times, trying not to kill the UN staff, and being run over by the J'avo while one of them ran around, they headed back up the eighth floor to recover the other.

The communicator came on as Delta Two informed HQ they were out of the building.

Meanwhile, Alpha and Bravo had to deal with another moment of trying to not kill the human shield hostage and falling flat on their backs as they got in the J'avo's way.

"I never thought I'd be run over by a spider," Piers said.

"Focus! This is no joking matter!" Chris yelled.

"I wasn't joking, Captain," Piers said, shooting at the J'avo.

After a few misses, Piers got fed up and used his sniper skills instead to take it down.

"Alpha to HQ! Eighth floor hostage secured!" Chris said, "Nice job, Piers."

Piers waved it off like it was nothing. Being a sniper was in his blood and he has heard countless praises for his skills. But they didn't really matter any more. To Piers, he wasn't a good enough sniper. He never would be, especially not after what he did back then.

More like what he _didn't_ do.

"There's one more on the first floor," Chris said.

As two of the Bravo members carried the hostages, they followed Chris as he led the way down the stairs where it was blocked on the sixth floor, preventing them from going down further.

"Dammit. Is there another stairwell somewhere?" Marco said.

"We'll have to find one," Piers said as they opened the door to the sixth floor.

Chris turned the corner and yelled, "There's an elevator!"

"Elevator?" Marco whispered to Piers, "In a barely standing tall building? Is he high?"

"Relax, it'll be fine," Piers whispered back.

Marco snorted, "Yeah, have fun with that. My team and I are going to look for a stairwell. You know, where it's safer than be squished. See you down there."

Piers rolled his eyes and ran after his captain. Chris pushed the button to go down when Piers got in.

"Delta One to HQ! All hostages on the fifteenth floor are secured! Leaving the building now!"

"Okay, that just leaves us," Piers said.

Chris relaxed a little and sighed heavily.

"You okay?" Piers asked.

"Yeah," Chris answered after a long pause, "I'm just…I'm ready to go back to Jill and stay for a while. Plus these headaches keep getting worse."

Piers remembered that Chris had been a part of this since the beginning. He was only twenty-five when he first encountered the infected and the different viruses. And now, here he is, barely in his forties, still fighting the same battle he fought back in this hometown. So, he didn't blame Chris for being tired of the war. A man can only take so much death lying around him. And the fact that he was guaranteed that he might not be able to live another day…

"What are you going to do after this?" Chris suddenly asked, "You going to see Angie?"

Piers looked away from Chris and to the opposite wall. After a long pause, he said, "I…I can't. It's impossible to see her, considering what I have done to her."

"What do you mean?" Chris asked, "Everything okay between you and her? Nothing bad happened after you guys…you know."

"No," Piers said, "We stayed together through a few years. It's just… No matter what people say, it all comes down to the fact that I just wasn't good enough. I knew I shouldn't have suggested going further than friendship. I can't help but feel that if I haven't, she would still be by my side."

Part of the last conversation they had with each other played in his head as if it only happened yesterday instead of three years ago.

"_Angie, please. Don't do this."_

"_It's too late. Promise me that you won't let anything change your dream, not even the memories of me."_

"_You'll always be in my heart."_

"_I know…Take care, Nivans."_

A tear fell down Piers' cheek without him realizing until it hit his glove. As quick as he could, he wiped away the traces of sadness off his face and took a deep breath.

Chris didn't say anything. The silence between them grew denser as the elevator went further down…

…And stopped abruptly along with the lights turning off.

"It's stopped. Now what?" Chris asked.

Piers looked up, "I can get through the ceiling if you give me a hand."

Chris knelt down, ready to lift Piers up through the ceiling. He got there and opened the hatch but nearly fell back when he thought he saw someone curled up in a corner, disappear.

"Everything alright up there?" Chris asked.

Piers took a minute to collect his thoughts, "Yeah, just thought I saw something move. If there was, I think it's gone."

"Either way, let's keep our guard up," Chris said.

Then Piers pulled himself up, lied down on his stomach, and held out his hand to help Chris up, "Captain."

Chris leaped up a bit and pulled himself up with the help of Piers. They both looked up when they heard something scream out. What they saw made the blood drain out of Piers' face.

An RPG came right at them, making them both jump off the top of the elevator and onto the platforms near them.

Piers turned over taking some heavy breathes, got onto his feet, and saw Chris on the opposite side of the elevator shaft, just now turning over to get up.

"Captain! You okay?" he yelled.

"Yeah," Chris said in a frustrated tone and shooting at the J'avo with the RPG, "I'm fine."

Piers watched as the J'avo fell off of the catwalk above and down towards the burning elevator. Then he walked over to the elevator door and helped Chris open it up. As they got it completely open, a stream of bullets started coming through the exit.

"Kinda getting the feeling we're not welcome here," Chris said, in a half joking, half tired tone.

"Come on. We can take them," Piers said.

Chris threw a grenade into the room and they both took cover. The gunshots stopped after the explosion, indicating that they possibly killed the J'avo that were shooting at them.

_Not bad, _Piers thought.

After killing off even more J'avo, Chris and Piers found a stair well and headed down from being on the third floor to the second floor. Going any further was impossible, of course, so they opened the door and entered floor number 2.

As they walked around, looking for an entrance to the next floor, Delta's One and Two notified HQ that they were clear of the building. HQ came back and let everyone know that Alpha was still inside and that the bombing will not happen until they are out.

"Piers, over here," Chris said, kind of low.

Piers ran over to where Chris was in the middle of the room and looked down through a hole in the floor.

"I'm going in. You ready?" Chris asked as Piers saw a J'avo standing guard over a female staff member.

Piers nodded and shot the J'avo. Then they both jumped down and guarded the woman as more J'avo came out of hiding. Just as they were almost done, another jumped right through where they came from and landed behind the woman. Piers turned around and everything seemed to go in slow motion as he watched in horror as the machete came close to the hostage's neck.

Piers suddenly felt Chris slam his hand on his shoulder, "Piers! What the hell happened?"

Piers looked at Chris and then back at the woman, the J'avo now on the ground with a bullet through his head. He put a hand to his head and apologized.

"This mission would've been jeopardized because of you!" Chris exclaimed, "Good thing I'm fast at reloading. Didn't you hear me yell for you to take the shot?"

Piers started feeling his heart pump faster as Chris' eyes bore into him in disappointment.

Chris shook his head and got on the communicator, "First floor hostage secured."

"Copy that, Alpha," HQ came back, "Now clear out of there!"

Piers slowly walked behind Chris and the hostage, still dumbfounded by what had happened. In that instance, he had seen the woman as Angie.

_What the fuck is happening to me? _Piers thought.

He shook his head and returned his focus on the mission at hand, "Come in HQ! All hostages are okay. Alpha Team is clear."

"Copy that. Commencing with bombing."

Piers turned to Chris, who was now looking at him with curiosity instead of disappointment. Ignoring it, Piers began running towards the exit.

Without warning, the exit became blocked with fallen cement and bricks.

"Shit! We're trapped!" Chris said, "What the hell do we do now?"

Piers just sighed, "I don't know."

HQ came through and said, "You can get out the third floor. There's a balcony on the west side of the building. Get moving!"

They began running straight to the elevator shaft and climbed up the ladder.

"Alpha Team," HQ said, "Get out of there now! Preparations to bomb the building are complete. Planes have been scrambled."

"We don't want to be here when those birds show up," Piers said, causing Chris to give him a 'no-shit-Sherlock' look.

As they kicked open the door on the second floor, an explosion rattled the floor, causing them to stumble around.

"They've started bombing. Guess they don't care that we're still in here," Chris said as they struggled to keep their footing.

"It's not personal," Piers said as they began running as fast as they could, "You know the mission takes priority."

They ran to the stairwell and towards the balcony area on the third floor.

"Hurry!' Chris yelled as more J'avo started shooting at them from all different directions.

Unfortunately, there was a giant hole in the middle of the floor, causing them to go around it and right into the fire of the enemy. There was no time to shoot back so they booked it to their exit. They were almost there…until the floor collapsed.

Chris was able to get up first. He stopped at the edge when he realized Piers wasn't there.

Piers had gotten about halfway up when he said, sarcastically, "I'm fine. I got it."

Chris then looked outside and yelled for Piers when he saw another missile coming their way.

Piers ran towards Chris and they both jumped just as the missile met its target.

After landing safely on the ground, they ran for cover and waited for the explosions to stop. They waited a while and then came out of cover, weapons ready for any more threats. When Chris and Piers got closer, they lowered their weapons in awe with what the missiles left behind. The building had been demolished but there were cocoon looking things in the fire.

Human cocoons.

Chris suddenly grabbed the back of his head and collapsed to his knees.

"Captain?" Piers said, cautiously stepping closer.

Chris looked back at the human cocoons as Piers stood there, wondering if he was okay. Maybe he was breathing in too much smoke.

Chris said something too low for Piers to hear but he was too busy looking around to care. As soon as he knew Chris was okay, Piers walked away a bit and started thinking. Then he took a deep breath and said, "Maybe I should stop telling you about Angie."

There was silence but Piers didn't turn around to see if Chris was listening. Then the deep voice of his captain reached his ears, "Why do you say that?"

Piers was prepared to answer that question; to admit that reliving the memories were possibly causing the visions he was getting of Angie were distracting him. But for some reason, he couldn't even make a sound.

"Is it because you yelled for her back there?"

Piers turned around and looked at Chris. Even thought Chris was staring at the fire, Piers could tell something else was bothering him. But right now, he wanted to know what Chris meant.

Chris answered Piers' unspoken question by saying, "When the J'avo jumped down through the hole and put the machete to the woman's neck, you called her Angie. Do you remember that?"

Piers gave Chris a confused look as he finally turned away from the flames and looked at his lieutenant. A few seconds went by and Piers still couldn't say anything.

"What happened between you and her?" Chris asked, "I've never seen you this scattered before. Did something bad happen?"

Piers interrupted Chris' last question with a strict, "Yes."

After thinking for a little bit, Piers sighed and shook his head, "But we're nowhere near that part of the story."

"I thought you said you weren't…" Chris continued until Piers put up his hand.

"I will continue," he said, "But I'm asking you to give me time on explaining these things. And, as far as continuing the fight, I'll be fine."

Chris nodded firmly, "How could I lose faith in the best sniper in the BSAA?"

There goes another one. Yet another praise that Piers felt he didn't deserve.

"So what happened?" Chris asked.

Piers nodded as a reassurance that everything will be okay.

"A few years went by," Piers said, staring into the fire, "I thought at that point that it was time that I buy her ring and propose."

Piers shifted a little before finally adding, "That ended up being a huge mistake."


	9. Chapter 8

_**Better grab a mouse because this chapter is kind of cheesy (just like this joke). ANYWHO!**_

_**This chapter contains a pinch of language and continues to have spoilers.**_

_**As always, be mature. I don't appreciate rude comments.**_

_**Enjoy :)**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Resident Evil or Piers Nivans or Chris Redfield. They are owned by Capcom. This story is inspired by Josh Groban's 'Feel Like Home' from his album Illuminations.**_

* * *

Chapter 8

_Piers sighed heavily into the zipped up collar of his military jacket, gripping the bouquet of flowers he had brought as a gift. He stared at the gravestones in front of him. Each time he had visited this place, it had become harder and harder to stay for a decent amount of time. Besides that, he was a twenty-year-old military man. His mentality had formed to think himself weak if he shed a single tear in public because of being surrounded by a military lifestyle._

_He knelt down in front of the stones, trying not to get his pants dirty, "Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad. I'm back. I hope you can see how well I've been doing. I'm not going to lock myself up in despair like you thought. Angie has been helping me through the whole thing."_

_Piers looked over at where Angie stood next to his truck. She gave him a small smile, waiting patiently for him to come back. He smiled back and turned back to his parents' graves._

_About a year ago, his father had kept his word and got rid of his barely running 1967 Charger. His mother was there when they went to buy a brand new one when Dodge had brought it back. He sent Piers a picture and everything. He looked so happy, hugging the hood of his new baby. Ironically, on their way back from the dealer, they didn't have enough time to move out of the way of a suicidal drunk driver. No one survived the accident._

"_Good news," Piers said, "I was able to buy a house. It's super small, but it's perfect for just the two of us. It's been about two years since her and I started dating. I'm sure you guys would approve of what I have planned for today."_

_A giant grin formed across his face. He hoped all would go as planned and end smoothly, even though his nerves were all over the place._

"_I feel sorry for her, though," Piers said as his smile faded, "She has to be alone a lot because of me, being in the Special Forces and all. She says she's okay but she says that so I don't worry about her. You know how she is."_

_Piers looked up at the sky as clouds threatened to cover the sun completely. He looked back down and said, "I don't know when I'll be able to visit again. Shit is getting worse and the virus is now spreading past the US. It seems that I have to spend even more time away from home as it grows. I'm sure you understand. And I'm sure you guys are laughing at me for talking to rocks while you're actually standing next to me."_

_He took a deep breath and nodded, readying himself to go. He set the flowers down in front of the gravestones and stood up. He looked at his mother's side and smiled as he saluted his father's grave._

"_I love you guys," he whispered as he walked away, tears forming in his eyes._

_Piers walked towards Angie with his head down. He knew she was crying and just looking at her would make him break down. He didn't want that to happen. He wanted this to be a happy day but instead he had to start it off with sadness by visiting a cemetery._

_He opened the passenger door for Angie and then got into the drivers side. _

_As always, it was silent after the visit. Having two people in a small area, whom have lost their parents in one of the most tragic ways possible, can put more of a damper on the day._

_Piers nearly jumped when Angie spoke up, "So, where are we going?"_

"_You'll see," Piers said. _

_Angie tilted her head, "Come on. Tell me, please?"_

_Piers repeated himself, "You'll see."_

_Angie started pouting, "Fine."_

_They fell silent again._

_Piers could tell that Angie was only trying to strike up a conversation that would take his mind off of his parents. Unfortunately, when they visited his parents' graves, she would begin thinking about hers. She wanted him to be happy and stay that way. And he wanted the same for her._

_He moved to grab her hand and hold it as a sign that he was okay. She put her other hand on top of his and leaned her head on the seat._

_It wasn't until the rock version of that damned song came on that the silence was broken._

"_I swear," Piers said, changing the song, "That song has become more of an ear sore if anything."_

"_The band isn't bad," Angie said, seemingly trying to defend the song._

"_Yeah, Red is a great band. But this song," Piers said, just as the slow version came up._

_Angie laughed as Piers' head flopped back in frustration, "I like the rock version of Already Over. At least that one is a little more up beat."_

"_I guess," Piers said, turning onto a vacant looking street with some light fog._

_Unfortunately for Washington, part of it had been hit pretty badly. The virus was thought to be gone but the aftermath left deep scars in the land, making it hard for people to live on._

"_Um, Piers? You do realize we're going down a dead zone, right?" _

_Angie, as well as other people, called these areas 'dead zones' because Washington people feared these places still had the virus. They all though that it was lying dorment within the debris. The lack of livability here caused majority of the population to move on somewhere else._

"_I know," Piers said, "We're almost there."_

_Angie looked over at Piers with a look on concern, "So, is this were you kill me and bury my body?"_

_Piers began laughing._

"_I knew it!" Angie said, keeping the joke going._

"_No!" Piers said, still laughing, "Why would I do that to the woman I love more than anything in this world?"_

_Angie shrugged, "Love causes people to do crazy things."_

_Piers nodded, "Yes, it does."_

_He, then, turned into a driveway area and parked his truck. He was about to get out when he felt a hand grab his arm._

"_What are you doing?" Angie said._

_Piers looked at her confused, "Getting out. Come on, I want to show you something."_

_Angie narrowed her eyes, "It better not be a dead body."_

_Piers' face twisted into speechless confusion._

"_Knowing you, that's something you would do," Angie said, smiling._

_Piers eyes widened as he began laughing again, "What is with you and dead bodies right now?"_

_Angie pointed to their surroundings. She had a point. They were in a vacant area supposedly doomed with death. For all he knew, there could be dead bodies where they are going._

"_Come on," Piers said, getting out of the car._

_He walked to the other side to get Angie. Reluctantly, she stepped out of his truck and began following him. It was a good thing he had he wear casual clothing and shoes. The grounded ended up being more broken up than he thought. Even wearing his boots seemed to hurt his feet._

_He looked behind him and saw that Angie had stopped. She was staring at the single story building they were walking by with an emotionless face. Piers took her by the hand as she mentioned that the building looked familiar. As they continued on, more buildings like the one before appeared out of the minor fog. Angie kept looking around as if having a déjà vu. They got a little further from the cluster of buildings where there was a swing set and some bars in what looked like a playground. He led them to a sand pit when he heard Angie gasp._

"_Is this…?" Angie said, not being able to finish._

_Piers looked at her as she looked around in awe._

"_Several years ago, a bully named Michael threatened to hurt me if I didn't meet up with him after school. After that, I met a girl from a different state right here in this very sand pit. She had long brown hair at the time and had this obsession with lions. She was quite the tomboy and was always fun to be around," Piers paused as he watched Angie's expressions, "As the years went by, we became more and more inseparable. We were the two kids everyone thought were twins. The years continued and people's views on us changed. They started thinking we were a couple. We would always end up in a stuttering and nervous wreck when someone said that. _

"_When I went into the academy, she never swayed from my side. She was always there when I needed someone. She would even stop what she was doing just to talk to me. She never came up with lame and obviously fake excuses to avoid me. Then a tragedy happened."_

_Piers looked at the ground, "She had lost her parents, in a bad house fire. While my parents and I took her in, we knew that we could probably never be what she had before. Regardless of what we thought, she always had a smile on her face. She was always laughing and teasing me. She was never afraid to tell me the truth, no matter how much it hurt. She was my best friend. _

"_After I graduated, we weren't best friends anymore. In fact, we became what everyone thought we were: lovers," Piers smile and looked away, almost embarrassed, "I have been in love with her since our middle school days and, not once, did I feel any different. But what we have just doesn't feel like enough. I know she's mine and she will never leave, but I just feel like… I don't know. I feel like something is supposed to happen. Then, it hit me."_

_Piers walked closer to Angie and pulled out a handkerchief to lay it down on the ground. The next thing he pulled out was little black box from his jacket pocket. She was now staring down at his hand, breathing heavily. _

"_Angie."_

_Angie slowly looked up at Piers. Then he got on one knee, making sure that he was on the handkerchief, and opened the box. The ring had one big diamond in the center while surrounded by other smaller ones. She stepped back a little and put a hand on her chest._

"_Will you be mine forever?" Piers asked, "Will you marry me?"_

_Angie almost collapsed as she began crying out of pure joy. The smile on her face went from ear to ear as she nodded, "Yes."_

_Almost subconsciously, Piers jumped up like an excited kid in Disneyland, "Really?"_

_Angie started laughing, "Don't get too happy now. You might break a military rule for emotions."_

_Piers laughed at her joke but mostly because he was happy she said yes. He put the ring on her finger and then picked her up. They both laughed and hugged each other, happy that they were now taking their relationship to the next level. He put her down and they kissed each other. _

"_I know this was slightly cheesy and kind of dangerous," Piers said in between passionate kisses, "But to tell you the truth, I couldn't think of any other place to go."_

_Angie shook her head as she kept kissing him, "Yes, cheesy but it was actually quite cute."_

_After their feelings began escalating and becoming more passionate, Piers decided that it was a good idea to get in the car._

"_It would be really uncomfortable here," Angie said, breathing heavily._

_Then they both hurried to the truck as Piers said, "Good thing I keep protection in the glove compartment. And I'm not meaning just my gun."_

* * *

Piers laughed a bit, remembering how they frantically jumped in his truck, "I'm just glad I had a back seat at that point. Anyway, we got married shortly afterwards. Jordan was the only one there along with her friend, Ayaka."

He walked away a bit, trying to think of what came next as he looked around.

"Piers."

"Sir?" Piers asked, immediately going back to reality.

Chris stayed knelt down, staring at the fire as some other BSAA members used flame torches to burn the human cocoons, "What happened to Ada Wong?"

It only took a second for Piers to react, "You remember!" When Chris didn't answer or make a move, Piers' excitement vanished, "Captain?"

"Where is she?"

Piers recognized the anger in his captain's tone. Even so, he was eerily calm about it when saying her name, especially after what he said in the briefing room after the incident in Edonia. Regardless, Piers was glad to have a definite answer to his question, "She's leading Neo-Umbrella. All these terrorist are-"

"Is she in the city or not!" Chris shouted, now looking in Piers' direction.

Piers stood there for a moment before answering, "She's been sighted several times since the attacks began. Yeah, she's here."

Chris stood up, not taking his eyes off the fire and then walked past Piers, "Tell the men we're moving out."

Piers watched as Chris walked away from him.

_This isn't good._

He saw that look in Chris' eye. It was the look a man gets when he's on a personal mission full of nothing but blind revenge. Piers knew that look all too well. He had seen it several times when he was in the Special Forces. Majority of them ended in heavy casualties and tension between team members. Even Piers had it at one point in time. The feeling of looking forward to ending his grudge in the most horrible way possible felt so good energizing…

But he felt so guilty just by remembering how he thought about the twisted, torturous, and fucked up ways of ending that person.

Piers wanted so badly to try and reason with his captain but he knew he would only lose that battle. Not only was Chris stubborn, but he was also his superior officer and rank meant a lot, especially in these times. The only thing he could do at this point was nod and say, "Yes, sir."


	10. Chapter 9

**_Shorter chapter this time. _**

**_This chapter contains some of language and a spoiler at the beginning._**

**_As always, be mature. I don't appreciate rude comments._**

**_Enjoy :)_**

**_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Resident Evil or Piers Nivans or Chris Redfield. They are owned by Capcom. This story is inspired by Josh Groban's 'Feel Like Home' from his album Illuminations._**

* * *

Chapter 9

Piers put down his gun as he finished off the last of those clouds of bugs. He didn't put his guard down for fear that Ada was still there.

Ada. She had struck again and, this time, it was Marco's turn.

_"Looking for me, boys? Welcome to China."_

Chris got down on one knee and looked at the C4 Marco's cocoon had left behind. Pier had turned around, still scoping the area for threats. After a moment, he heard Chris pound the floor and looked down at the ground. They not only lost their entire squad, yet again, but they lost the captain of Bravo Team, Marco. The other's died from the snake like BOW that they just recently killed. Marco's death reminded Piers so much of Finn.  
My God, what do we do now? Piers thought as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Chris slapped the C4 on the exit doors and charged them. The doors flew up and they both began walking when Chris slammed his fist into the wall. Startled, Piers looked at him for a moment. Then he took a deep breath and said, "Chris, we need to stay calm."

Chris' head lifted and he looked at Piers, "After what she's done to us? How many men are dead because of that bitch?"

"I'm right there with you, Captain, but your personal vendetta isn't going to get us anywhere," Piers said.

"How can you be so calm about this?" Chris yelled, "You trying to look like the better person or something? Sucking up to HQ, huh?"

"I'm calm because I've been in a situation like this before!" Piers yelled back, "And what I learned from it wasn't pretty. More men died because I let my personal problems get in the way than if I just left it alone!"

Chris shook his head in disbelief.

"If you haven't been so blinded by your vengeance, we could have prevented some of those deaths!"

Piers could see that he got his point through when Chris turned around without a word. The next thing he said felt somewhat childish to Piers.

"Shut up," Chris said in a low voice.

Piers walked closer, "Do you even care about our mission anymore?"

"Shut up!" This time, Chris was in Piers' face.

Piers stood his ground, "I feel sorry for all the men who died believing in you."

He was way out of line this time but he needed Chris to open his fucking eyes. They weren't getting anywhere with their little argument, nor were they with chasing Ada around.

Chris pushed Piers to the wall to get him to shut up. He was angry and Piers could see this but it almost made him laugh. He felt like he was fighting with a football player from the other team.

_Oh, now we're being immature,_ Piers thought.

Well, he wasn't taking it. With all his strength, he pushed Chris away and stared into his eyes, "What happened to the legendary Chris Redfield, huh? What happened to you?"

Chris' face went from full of vengeance to the look he always had before Edonia, "It's a good thing Finn's not around to see you this way."

Chris stared for a moment before pushing Piers into the wall again, "I'm going after Ada."

Piers' breathing became rapid as his anger continued to boil. Chris walked away and called for HQ.

_Why the fuck can't he see what he's causing?_ Piers thought.

_"It's not worth it. Just leave it alone. All that energy could be put towards helping him, not bashing him."_

Another one of Piers' memories surfaced as if on cue. Angie had said that when his best friend, Jordan, wouldn't leave his ex-girlfriend alone. He had tried to get her to see that he still loved her but she couldn't handle the long months alone.

_"What if I snap?"_ Piers had said, _"What if I can't handle the stress of his closed mindedness and I leave?"_

_"You won't,"_ Angie had said and wrapped her arms around him, _"You're too good a person to do that. Besides, he's your best friend. Not a lot of people can claim they have one nowadays. Just keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't get in any trouble."_

Piers could still feel her arms and smell her strawberry shampoo, even though the vision was done. Realizing this, he closed his eyes, turned around, and said the words he thought might regret later, "I'm going with you."

And to as more of a jab, he added, "Someone's gotta keep an eye on you whether you want them to or not."

He was so mad at his captain but Angie had been right. If he didn't watch Chris and help him, he might kill himself trying.

Chris looked at him and then walked away, leaving Piers behind.

Piers looked down, _I can already tell, this is going to be a pain in the ass._

After getting outside of the building, they looked around and found a river full of boats. They needed to cross that river, no matter what path they took. HQ had told them that Ada was at the harbor, trying to get out of China, and that was somewhere on the other side.

"You wanna follow me around, fine. Just make sure you stay out of my way," Chris said, dropping down from the platform they were on.

Piers dropped down after him and stopped when he got to his feet. He was done with Chris' attitude at this point and didn't give a damn about rank, "As long as you don't cross the line again, that won't be a problem. Ada's just playing with you. When are you going to realize that?"

"I'm not stupid enough to fall for her bullshit. You should have a little more faith in your captain," Chris said, not stopping.

"I would have faith in you," Piers began, "If you weren't so close minded about all of this."

Chris finally stopped and looked at Piers, "Close minded?"

"Chris, please, I've been in your shoes, okay? I know what it feels like to have that kind of power charge up your strength and will to go on. But the side effect is making you blind to anyone else's problem or your priorities at hand. It will only bring destruction."

"You know how it feels like? Of all people, you wanted revenge on someone?" Chris asked, sizing him up.

"I'm obviously a changed man. You learn things the hard way going down that path," Piers said, rolling his eyes.

"Like how? Who or what could you possibly want revenge on in your perfect life?" Chris asked, turning around to continue walking.

Piers fell silent and then began laughing. Chris turned back around and watched Piers laugh.

"What's so funny, soldier?" Chris asked.

"You!"

Chris was taken aback as Piers walked closer with every sentence, "You think my life is perfect? Yours is more perfect than mine! At least you still have your wife! At least you have someone to go home to. At least you can continue your name anytime you want. What do I have? Nothing! Angie is gone! And there's nothing I can do about it. Who I wanted revenge on was the man who took her away from me."

Chris chuckled, "Yeah, well, I'm sure whatever stunt you pulled with her made you this way. I'm sure she was more than willing to leave you after whatever it was. That other guy probably offered a better life for her."

Piers felt like he was about to snap as Chris turned around to walk away. Back then, he would've let his anger get the better of him without a second thought, but this was now. And, if Angie knew about him snapping, she would never forgive him, "I didn't do anything to make Angie leave. She left me because of what that other guy did to her. She left me because she became infected!"

Chris stopped in his tracks as Piers' strength to hold in the tears broke loose. He fell to his knees, remembering exactly what happened. Everything about that day four years ago still felt so real. How she just made up her mind and left him alone. She didn't even think twice.

"Piers," Chris said.

"You're not the only one that has suffered through losing people you care to one person," Piers said almost in a whisper, "But how would you be able to see that through your closed eyes. You assume everything is that person's fault when they have a problem."

Piers had enough time to wipe the tears away and calm down when Chris walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, "Listen, I'm sorry."

Piers threw Chris' hand off of him and got up, "Fuck you, man. I don't need your fucking pity because, we both know, you don't give a shit."

Chris was about to speak but Piers interrupted him, "Just… leave me alone right now!"

Piers was walking away when Chris tried to get his attention again, "Piers, just listen to me."

"Shut up! I've listen to you enough already," Piers just continued walking and sighed, "Let's just get this done so you can go home in one piece."

_Take care, Nivans._

_Angie, I can't do this without you._

_I don't want you to get infected, too. I'm doing this to protect you. The military won't help me, you know that. _

He could've prevented the infection getting to her. If only he was right there next to her and not so far away. He could've helped her and instead, he just let her go.

It wasn't until about a year later that he was told by Jordan that the guy that caused her to get infected had been dead now for a while… Or so the BSAA told Jordan to tell Piers.

He wasn't sure if the BSAA knew about it but he could've sworn that, even back in Edonia, Jake looked a lot like that same guy that killed Angie.  
Piers gritted his teeth, Don't think like that. There's a higher possibility that Jake isn't the same guy that did that.


End file.
